After a day of resting, Seijuro rises before the sun. He has his hair tied in a small ponytail, and his green haori placed around himself. He wears a white top with black hakama pants and a pair of white sandals. He has his sword tied around himself and placed on his back. Around his neck was his silver necklace, with a crescent moon attached to it. He slides open the door to his room and exits. Waiting in the hallway, was Lily, wearing the same uniform as himself,
"You ready, Yoshiki?" She asks, sounding cold as usual,
"Yeah. Let's get going." They walk towards the counter to see the man, this time wearing a white top and white haori around himself and the same black shades. His face remained expressionless. His hair was combed back and he glances at them, before looking back at his work and continuing his writing.
Seijuro and Lily exit Hayashi's Inn and look around. The street was practically empty and the sky was beginning to turn slightly orange, due to the rising sun. The moon was slowly starting to fade into the morning sky. The only sounds that can be heard were birds chirping and the wind blowing gently across their faces,
"Let's head to the tree line." Lily nods and they jump onto the rooftop and begin jogging.
Their footsteps echo into the distance and the view becomes clearer,
I don't even know if this will work. If they don't appear, what then? We can't let them get away… but all we know is that they hunt children and can't die…
Seijuro closes his eyes to try and ease his thoughts. He glances in front of him to see Lily, who hasn't spoken a word to him since they took off. He looks around and in the distance, he can see the tree line, as it begins to get larger the closer they get. As they reach the tree line, they sit on top of the roof. They face forwards and they see the sun, now starting to peak over the trees, some sunlight seeping through the branches and leaves,
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Seijuro turns to face Lily, who is smiling gently,
"My brother... loved to watch the sunrise." His eyes widen silently,
"He did?" She nods slightly and sighs, her lips straighten and she closes her eyes, before reopening them,
"I can tell you loved him." Lily doesn't reply to Seijuro and continues to face off into the distance.
He doesn't push a response and looks into the distance. He can see a lot of blue emitting from her,
She's in pain… and I know that pain too well…
She turns to face Seijuro, who returns her gaze. Her blues eyes glistened with tears and she gently takes the lily flower out of her hair,
"He gave this to me. We… lost our parents at a young age. So, he practically raised me and my sister. His smile and optimism… it was a lot like Captain Lisa's. I may not act it, but I… miss him."
"Yeah, I can tell, but he's proud of you. I'm sure of that." Seijuro gives her a small smile and Lily returns with a smile of her own,
"Anyways, we should focus." He nods in response to this.
They look to their left and right and see the tree line stretching into the distance,
"It's way too large. How are we gonna cover all of this?" Lily states and looks at Seijuro,
"You're right." The sun slowly begins to emerge over the tree line.
They remain there for a while and continue to think. However, in the distance, they hear a bell. Both of them glance to their left, and they see a school, sitting near the edge of the forest. They look at each other and no words were needed, as they both began to sprint towards the direction of the school,
This has to be it!
They quickly jump from the rooftop and see a swarm of children, rushing into the entrance of the school and a teacher standing just at the opening of the school. She was wearing a pink haori and she was holding stick and her hair was tied, making it look like it was standing up. The school was made of stone and stretched towards the sky. There were many windows and the building was strong and clean. The front had two beautiful wisteria trees. The woman was clearly trying to calm the children down and both Seijuro and Lily approach her,
"Can I help you both?" She turns to face them and glances at his sword, which makes her feel slightly nervous,
"We've just come for information, that's all, ma'am. We would like to know if there have been any children missing." Lily asks politely,
"Children missing? Why would you like to know that?"
"We're looking for whatever is responsible for the disappearances of those children, that's why, ma'am." Seijuro replies,
"I see. Well, there has been 4 children missing in total."
"Could you elaborate on what you know?"
"They were playing during their breaks and it was like they just vanished into the thin air. The staff and myself are actually thinking about closing, until we find out what is responsible."
"Where is the play area for the children, ma'am?" He asks, sounding slightly more desperate,
"Just near the tree line. The teachers and myself organised a search party to search for them, but we just couldn't find anything."
"I see. May we stay in the play area? Just to keep an eye on things?"
"Are you two with the authorities?"
"You could say that, but trust us, ma'am. Nothing will happen to these children with both of us here." Lily says reassuringly and the woman is still skeptical,
"I'm sorry, but we cannot just let you both into the school. For all we know, you both could be responsible for the disappearances."
"Please, trust us." The woman glances at both of them and sighs,
"I sincerely apologise, but no. Now, please leave." She says calmly and walks into the school.
Seijuro gives Lily a defeated look and she sighs,
"We need to hide somewhere. Stay out of sight and scout this place."
"Yeah, but where? The roof they will definitely see us. We could stay near the place and just wait."
"But, that gives too much for them. What if it claims another victim?" Seijuro looks down and sighs,
"It's the only plan we got, as much as I hate the consequence of it failing."
"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. Let's just remain outside for the mean time, see if we can catch anything weird." He nods and leans his back against the wall.
Lily stands next to him and does the same,
"So, Yoshiki. After this mission, what you gonna do?"
"Keep training and hunt down the kings."
"You really think you can beat them?" Seijuro doesn't answer straight away, but he turns to face Lily,
"I have to try. For Ren."
"Ren? Your little brother?"
"Yeah. I would do anything to get him back." Before Lily could reply, a sudden scream within the school, causes both of them to whip their heads to the entrance of it.
Seijuro and Lily barge through the entrance and draw their weapons. Children and teachers run past them screaming, as the adults try to escort the children outside. They glance around to see two hallways, one leading right, the other leading left,
"You go right, I go left, quickly!" Lily takes off through the left hallway.
Seijuro charges down the right hall and turns a corner, only to see the woman using her own body as a shield to protect the children. Standing in front of Seijuro was the boogeyman they saw and fought in their last battle. It hadn't seemed to notice him behind it. Seijuro looks into the children, images of Ren begin to flash in his mind and he begins to focus his dark matter into his legs. He takes a deep breath and charges forward, decapitating the creature in a single blow. Seijuro quickly turns around and skids backward due to the speed he was moving at,
"Quickly! Find another exit and get everyone out of here!" The woman nods and gestures for the children to quickly run down the hallway,
"Are you not forgetting something, boy?" The creature had already regenerated its head and was smiling widely.
That's when Seijuro realised,
The other one…
He quickly turns around and yells,
"STOP!!!" However, it was too late, the other boogeyman had turned the corner and now was towering over the children and the teacher.
Before Seijuro could anything, he feels the boogeyman wraps it's arms around him and lifts him up into a bear hug,
"Watch, as they die, because of your foolishness." He tries his very best to escape the grip of the creature,
How could I have been so dumb… I just led these people to their deaths…
Suddenly, Lily appears behind the creature with her staff drawn. She jumps and slams her staff directly into the head of the creature, causing to crash straight through the wall,
"Lily!" Seijuro yells and his lips curl into a smile,
"Alright, you guys quickly down the hallway and out! Get everyone out of here!" The teacher nods and she escorts the children out,
I have to get out of this grip!
Seijuro wriggles his left towards his right and he grips his sword tightly with both hands. His sword begins to glow dark purple,
"Ryu's Breath!" Seijuro suddenly spins violently and his blade slices straight through the torso of the creature.
Seijuro regains his footing and stands up completely. Meanwhile, the other fear emerges through the hole in the wall. It was baring its fangs and clearly angry. Lily and Seijuro are now back to back, with their weapons drawn and ready,
"No pressure, Yoshiki." She jokes, which causes him to smirk,
"Not in the slightest." He replies, returning her lighthearted statement, as he faces the creature again,
This time, we will win.