A cacophony of screams and groans bellowed from the frigid belly of the Underworld as an endless wave of shikome converged upon Osamu, Izanami, and Tsukiakari. Osamu emerged from the icy waters and climbed back onto the platform of ice right as a shikome latched onto him and sunk her yellow fangs into his leg. He took the golden sword from his hip as he released a shriek of pain, then slashed the blade down the shikome's shoulder, severing her right arm.

"Osamu, this is getting too dangerous!" Izanami shouted, reaping scores of shikome with her black scythe.

Osamu held onto his neck as the curse continued to progress. Half of his face had turned pale, and one of his eyes turned black with a golden iris.

(This isn't good...I can't see out of my other eye...)

The ice they stood on suddenly cracked down the middle, separating Tsukiakari and Izanami from Osamu. Osamu quickly jumped over to the other side, nearly falling as he skidded across the ice. With a smaller platform to defend, things were looking dire.

"Izanami! We need to find that gourd!" Osamu urged.

Tsukiakari shot several flares into the air from her blade to give light to the area. They slowly descended down to the water, elongating the shadows of the shikome as they fell. No matter how many of the pallid shikome Osamu and the others slashed at, they just kept coming. Osamu looked around, seeing the fight was hopeless. The shikome were swarming upon them like a colony of ants.

"Damn it! Izanami! Get Gekko out of here!" Osamu shouted.

"What the hell are you saying?!" Tsukiakari protested.

"There's too many of them! I'm not risking you getting bitten! Take her now, Izanami! While you still can!"

Izanami didn't hesitate to place her hand on Tsukiakari's shoulder.

"Wait, Izanami!" Tsukiakari said.

"Osamu is right! You're Amaterasu's daughter! You can't die here on my watch! We'll see you later!" Izanami cried.

Tsukiakari was teleported back to the mansion in an instant, safe from the legions of relentless shikome.

(My senses are dulling. My vision is getting blurrier. I can tell, I'm bleeding a lot, but I can't feel any pain any more. The curse is being aggravated even further by the added bites. It's now or never. I need to find that gourd! I promised Yoko she wouldn't be a widow! Neither will Gekko or Izanami! It's now or never, Osamu!)

Izanami watched as Osamu jumped head first into the water and swam below into its cold depths. Several shikome took more bites out of his shoulders, arms, and neck, but he still managed to continue. With the light of the flares still in the air, Osamu saw a sparkling gold object on the seafloor.

(That must be it! That has to be Mizuhame's gourd! You're almost there, Osamu! Just survive this!)

"Osamu!" Izanami screamed.

Osamu grabbed the object and yanked it from the sea floor in one piece. Just as he thought, Mizuhame's name was written upon the faded, golden gourd.

(I've got it!)

Two shikome emerged from the dirt and grabbed Osamu by his neck as he tried to swim back to the surface. He was anchored to the sea floor as the swarm of shikome continued to bite into his shoulders, arms, legs, and neck. His limbs felt heavier as the paralysis settled in, his vision was becoming dark, and he would surely run out of air soon.

(I...will I die here? If I do, Izanami might not be able to save me this time...)

Izanami knew Osamu was taking too long to surface. She was about to jump into the water and save him herself, despite how dangerous it was. However, something big and unseen hit the water, causing a large splash that rained droplets down upon her. Izanami looked on in awe. Whatever it was, it was so fast she hardly even saw it.

Sounds and sights faded away for Osamu. He closed his eyes, still clutching the gourd in his hands. This was it. This was death. Suddenly, a light illuminated the darkness. It was so bright it nearly burned off his retinas. He held his hand over his face as the light dimmed. He removed his hand and saw someone he thought he'd never see again. It was Isabella, dressed in a black zip-up hoodie with her hair tied in twin tails, smiling at Osamu.

"...Izzy?" Osamu said.

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Isabella grinned. "Hey there, Osa. I'm kind of surprised to see you!"

(What is this?)

Osamu had always dreamed of a moment like this, a chance to see Isabella again. The dream always filled him with joy and excitement. He imagined he would catch up with her and tell her all kinds of stories from his time being alive. Now that it was actually happening, Osamu was ill-prepared for the crushing wave of sadness that washed over him. He never expected to be so overwhelmed just by seeing her smiling face. His felt whole again, and yet, it felt like it was also shattering like it did the day she passed away.

Tears ran down his cheeks as he stared Isabella in her emerald eyes. "Izzy...I've missed you so much. I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm crying. I'm not even sure if this is real."

Isabella smiled. "Well, they do say that people tend to picture someone they hold dear when they're about to die. Whether I'm real or not is entirely up to you. But, what exactly happened to you? I didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon."

"It's such a long story, Izzy..."

Isabella took Osamu by the arm and kissed his cheek. "That's fine by me. Tell me all of it."

(It was so cold and dark a while ago. But now, since I'm really this close to dying....I feel comfort. I feel warm.)

Osamu nodded. "All right. Let's walk."

A romantic walk through a dark land, and only those two were shining. Osamu couldn't think of a better way to end his short life. He found it to be incredibly fitting.

"Let's see. I suppose I should start off by saying...we really missed you. Yoko, Gekko, and Izanami...we all still sorely miss you. I took us months just to have the energy to get up and do anything after you passed. I'm sorry I couldn't..."

"Shh! No apologies." Isabella ordered. "I told you back then, when we sat at that lunch table for the last time, that I had absolutely no regrets. You shouldn't either."

(Still the same Izzy, huh?)

"Right. Well, when we finally did get back on our feet, Yoko took up Aika's idea of moving out to somewhere quiet in Hokkaido."

"Really?!" Isabella sang. "Is it nice out there? I've heard great things about Hokkaido!"

"Yeah actually, it's pretty nice. Way different and more peaceful than Kyoto. Still, Kyoto's in my heart, you know?"

"Definitely! What happened next?"

"Well...hehe...Yoko and I...kinda got married."

Isabella shook Osamu by his shoulders like a madwoman. "What do you mean 'kinda'?!?! Do you get married or not?!"

"We got the legal work done! We're officially married! We just need to have a ceremony!" Osamu cried, his shoulders aching"

"You guys haven't had the ceremony yet?! Geez, Osamu, I leave and you start messing up everything? Way to go!"

"We both agreed to hold it off! We were busy getting accustomed to life in Hokkaido, and there was the issue of Yoko getting in touch with her mother and me getting in touch with my parents! There were a lot of things to sort through!"

"That just sounds like bullshit, but I believe it."

(Thanks!)

"Well, anyway, we moved out of the house. We still own it, but we primarily live in Hokkaido now, me, Yoko, Gekko, and Izanami. Technically, we're all sort of married."

Isabella sighed. "Of course you turned out to be a giant polygamist."

"It was Yoko's idea!" Osamu protested. "Moving on, we spent about a year there. Aika and Rei moved out there too. They live really close to us, so we would see them often."

"Oh really? How are those two?"

"Well, the last time I saw them, they were doing well. They're living happy lives and that's largely because of you."

Isabella's cheeks turned pink as she smiled. "Good! I'm so glad!"

"Then...hehe...this is where it all goes south. A man came to our home and threatened the girls' lives. He was powerful and had these things called shikome with him."

"Ah, I remember reading about them once! They're the foul women of the underworld, right? Those really exist?"

"Are you really surprised? Izanami and Tsukiakari exist. Not to mention the Shoku Twins."

"Guess you're right! So, wait, are they okay?"

"That's...that what I'm not so confident about. As I said, it's a long story, but...in the end, the man, Satori, wanted us to come with him to his mansion. Apparently he...robbed your grave and took your remains. He said that there was a curse that was slowly eating away at him, and he didn't have much time left. In return for our help, he would return your remains to us. The man is insane. He's just not right in the head. It turns out that the person who put the curse on him was Kagutsuchi, a fire deity and daughter of Izanami.

"Wow, one of her children?!" Isabella gasped. "And wait a minute, I got grave robbed?! Oh no, I can't imagine how much my mom and dad are panicking! What did I do to deserve that? Did you see me? What did I look like?!"

"That's what you're worried about? What you looked like? I mean...if you must know...you're a skeleton."

Isabella shivered. "That's unsettling..."

Osamu leaned in. "I really expected you to be more upset about this. Your grave was defiled, Isabella."

"Well...how I put this...I don't care?"

"What?!" Osamu recoiled.

Isabella snickered. "I'm already dead. It doesn't matter to me what you do with what I possessed on earth. I know it means a lot to the people I left behind, but to me, what happens to my body is irrelevant."

"Don't say that. What if we had donated your remains for science or to one of those weird body museums?"

"Ooo! That would've been cool!" Isabella cheered.

"Izzy!"

"Enough about my body, what about the Kagutsuchi girl? Tell me more about her!"

Osamu sighed. "The girl had been quiet up until then. She was probably depressed about her powers and how she couldn't control them. Everyone she loved would end up getting hurt. Satori told me the story as if it was on purpose, but after meeting her and getting her to open up, I don't think that was really the case. Her smile is far too innocent for her to be evil."

"My god, that sounds horrible, Osa."

"We found out that the counter to Kagu's powers was the gourd of Mizuhame, Kagu's sister. Though she's been dead a long time, her gourd was in the underworld. Gekko and Izanami came down there with me. Things got hairy, and, well...

"I'm guessing that's why you're here, right?"

Osamu closed his eyes. “Yeah. So many lives are riding on that gourd, including my own. But I guess...I might not make it this time.”

Was it truly Osamu's end? And just what did Isabella have to say to him? In a place free from earthly burdens such as pain, death, and living, two souls pour out their hearts together once more.