"The 5th of August?? That's less than 2 days?? Didn't she have at least a week left?"
"Right now as we speak the seal is getting weaker. By the time that date comes around, the Kyubi would already be destroying the country. I... We... can't afford to give her more time."
Shiro's anger and frustration kept growing. He asked Enji and Arashi to reconsider, but they too had agreed this was the best thing to do. He smashed his fist into the table before storming off.
"If only I wasn't so helpless with this useless ability! The only thing it can save is me and no one else!"
He secluded himself in the forest to train.
9:00 am 4th August 2018
The next day Hoshiko woke up by herself. She quickly took care of all the chores in the temple, before going out to look for Shiro. A strange crashing noise could be heard all day which rang through the mountain.
"You looking for Shiro?", Arashi asked.
"He went into the forest last night, but I don't think he plans on returning any time soon."
Just as he said that, the waves of an
explosion echoed throughout the mountain once again. This time a gush of wind would accompany it.
"He's been doing that since yesterday. I haven't gone to check on him yet, but he's probably taking his anger out on the forest. Try not to get too close.. yeah?"
Hoshiko quickly ran off into the forest, but another powerfull gust of wind pushed her back.
Eventually Kotsuki came out to what was going on, but Hoshiko had long already left.
"That boy's training hard isn't he? He's defiantly going to try fight the Kyubi tomorrow."
"That guy is someone Weatherman acknowledged but I still don't like him. When I saw Weatherman like that, I could never forgive him. And now his emotions could jeopardise this mission."
A long time ago, after being persecuted by the village where he came from Arashi ran away. In his time off need he had no one, but that's when he met Weatherman. He saved him from his suffering, and came to have great respect for him. But when he saw Weatherman with a hole in his chest, he blamed Shiro.
"Countless generations of women had been sacrificed to that thing, all while I had no choice but to watch. I tried to look for a way to kill the Kyubi, but everything I found had failed. That boy... I don't know why, but I feel as if he could change that."
Once Hoshiko approached the source of the explosions, she was shocked to find that an entire chunk of the forest, had been erased from the mountain. There was only a large patch of dirt that remained, and in its center was an unconscious Shiro.
Hoshiko frantically ran up to him, and checked for a pulse.
"Why is he so pale? And his pulse is really weak?"
Despite his current condition, Shiro quickly woke up. But he felt stupidly exhausted. He was surprised to see Hoshiko there with him.
"What are you doing here?"
Before he could get an answer, his stomach grumbled loudly. Hoshiko asked him if he was hungry, but Shiro refused to eat, instead arguing that he should train again.
"Your super anemic! If you don't eat, you'll pass out again!?"
"That doesn't matter. The techniques are I use now are far too weak. If I want to protect you, then I need to get stronger."
Suddenly Hoshiko slapped Shiro, snapping him back into place. Recently, Shiro has found himself getting slapped more and more often.
"I DONT NEED YOU TO PROTECT ME!", Hoshiko shouted as she cried.
"I just need you to stay with me until I go."
Shiro then realized that she knew about the ritual date. She knew she was going to die tomorrow, and that she didn't mind.
"I'm going to die Shiro. I'm going to die, and I won't ever see you again. Before I go... can you at least make me happy?"
Hoshiko slowly leaned in towards Shiro, while still incredibly flustered. The two were only millimeters away from kissing, but just before they could Shiro noticed something strange.
There was a face looking at them from inside a bush. Shiro screamed as it terrified him.
"Love between younglings is always so refreshing to watch~"
It was Mr. Repent. The leader of the phantom troupe band.
He slowly climbed out of the bush, and revealed the black electric guitar which he was carrying on his back.
"Let me play the both of you a song to commemorate this day!"
He began to play some rock music that didn't fit the romantic atmosphere which he just ruined. Despite not having an amp, the music he was playing was stupidly loud.
"BLACK RIVERS OF LOVE!! FLOOD ON MEEEEEE!!!!!!!!"
Before he could continue, Shiro fired a dead bullet at his guitar, but somehow it was easily deflected.
"Is it because I'm weakened? How the hell-"
"BLACK RIVERS OF LOVE!!! FLOOOOOOOO ON MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!"
The loud music was becoming too much for Shiro to withstand, but suddenly he felt his regeneration recover out of nowhere. Colour returned to his skin, and even his muscle mass was returning. The sense of hunger which he felt earlier was disappearing.
While Mr. Repent was getting lost in his song, Hoshiko sneaked up to him and kicked him in the balls. He dropped his guitar as he shielded his family jewels.
"Why... I was just trying to help..."
Hoshiko shouted at him, complaining about ruining the single greatest moment of her life, all while Shiro was inspecting his own body.
"Er.. Hoshiko? I think he really was trying to help-"
Once she calmed down, she saw that Shiro looked much healthier than before. Realising her mistake, she tried to apologize.
"It's fine! My psychic trait is called Death Requiem. It boosts the abilities of others through music! When I play with my band, the psychic power output is even greater then what I can manage right now."
Shiro was amazed by him. Mr Repent was able to triple his psychic power just by himself, so he couldn't even imagine what he could do with the rest of his band. His skills were defiantly required to seal the Kyubi tomorrow.
"Do you mind if you help me train? I've come up with an idea for a new move, but I need some help to make it more efficient."
"Of course I will! Are you going to be paying with Credit or Debit? Cash even?"
"Huh?"
Mr. Repent was famous, not just in the public, but in the psychic community. Typically a normal buff would only allow an increase of 1.2x in psychic ability, but with is band, Mr. Repents could go up to 6x. This made him not just the greatest buffer in the world, but the price of his services would reflect that.
"I'm not going to help you just because you asked? I need to make some dough too! I've only been paid to help with the ritual."