Tonight was the night. The daylight faded into pitch-black darkness. Lucrezia had spent so much time planning for this very night, and yet, her nerves went on a frenzy throughout her body. She sat upon the front steps of Osamu's house, pinching the palm of her hand with her thumb and index finger as fireworks went off in her veins. The wind danced in her chestnut colored hair while her thoughts drifted from Shinju's safety to ensuring Amatsuki's getaway.

Osamu stepped outside and joined her. He could sense how nervous she was without even seeing her face. "Everything okay, Lucrezia? Do you need anything?"

Lucrezia nodded. "I'm fine. It's just nerves. Everything is riding on this, Osamu."

"I'm sure Shinju is fine. She's one of the toughest women I've ever met."

Lucrezia snickered. "Yeah, she is. I guess it's not her that I'm worried about right now. I have to use this fight to get Shinju out of their custody and give Amatsuki a new life."

(I wonder...if that's what the skeleton is for?)

"Thanks for helping me out, Osamu." Lucrezia said. "You've been awfully good to me, while I've only been awful to you. I apologize for that. Tonight is going to be rough. You will most certainly get hurt, but I won't let you die out there. As long as we stick together, we should be able to make it out of this okay. I originally planned to do this with Shinju, of course, but I won't know of her condition until we see her."

"You and Shinju...how long have you two been working together?"

Lucrezia smiled. "We've been comrades for over a decade. She's been my shadow and my right hand ever since we met. No matter how high the mountain, how low the valley, or how steep the darkness, she has always stuck right by my side, unrelentingly so. I definitely see Izanami's heart in her. It's no wonder they're related. Though, it would seem I've found similar companionship in you, Osamu."

Osamu shied his gaze away. "I'm just some idiot who follows his heart everywhere he goes. I'm not nearly as brave or smart as either you nor Shinju."

"Following one's heart is a dangerous game, but don't feel ashamed of that impulse if it's how you decide you want to live. So far, none of your efforts have been wasted. Aika might not remember you, and Isabella might be gone now, but those are not your failures. Love triumphs even in tragedy."

"...I hope you're right, Lucrezia." Osamu sighed, hanging his head.

"Satori was proof of that. He followed his heart until the very end. I firmly believe that we can all make each other's lives more bearable if we have the same courage as he did. That's why you're here right now instead of Hokkaido, because you believe it too. So, all that's left is this final deed."

"Right."

"It's almost midnight. We should get going. Remember, Osamu, the first thing you're going to do is check the contents of the duffle bag. It will contain a human skeleton inside. I want to make sure it belongs to the right person. Four of the ribs should be crushed, and you'll see a diamond-shaped hole above the right eye."

"It's your friend's bones, right? Why on earth would they dig it up?"

"...I suppose that's also the consequence of people following their hearts. Come on, let's get going."

Osamu and Lucrezia marched down the dark streets of the neighborhood together, their backs straight and their heads held high. The omnipresent chirps of crickets filled the air as their shoes crunched against the wet, concrete roads.

Osamu noticed they were walking towards the center of the neighborhood, where most of the vacant houses were. Both Amatsumi and Lucrezia were careful to choose a place where there would be no civilians caught in the crossfire, nor any witnesses to their battle.

Amatsuki and Rinji stood in wait in the middle of an empty cross street, the street lights flickering around them. The bag of bones sat on Amatsuki's right side, while a bound and gagged Shinju sat on her knees to the left. Though she was still in her bloodied clothes from the night Amatsuki attacked her, her shoulder wound was disinfected and bandaged with long strips of gauze.

Shinju's skin was ravaged by a deathly pallor, and her sweat glistened on her forehead despite it being a cool night out. She was alive, but she was visibly in a bad shape.

Rinji suddenly turned his head, sensing Lucrezia's presence. "Madam, she's here."

"I know." Amatsuki said.

Lucrezia and Osamu arrived right on time. Everyone had gathered, and every pre-requisite had been fulfilled. Lucrezia winced upon seeing Shinju's miserable condition, but she was glad that she wasn't dead. She then turned her gaze over to the duffle bag, then to Amatsuki herself.

"I appreciate your punctuality, Lucrezia." Amatsuki said. "We treated your friend's wound, but she'll need proper medical attention."

"First, you're going to hand her over to us." Lucrezia demanded.

Amatsuki bowed her head and smiled. "Very well. Rinji, please release Shinju."

Rinji removed the gag from Shinju's mouth and undid her handcuffs. He helped her off of the ground and walked her over to Lucrezia. Shinju fell into Lucrezia's arms, dizzy and exhausted. Almost all of Lucrezia's worries faded away as soon as she grabbed hold of Shinju and felt her warmth again. She breathed a sigh of relief and handed her over to Osamu.

"I didn't...say a word, Lucrezia." Shinju wheezed.

"I know you didn't. Just relax, okay? I'll have Osamu take you back to his place. Gekko is there. She'll treat your wounds." Lucrezia explained.

"Now then, I suppose all we have left is the bag." Amatsuki shouted. "I assume the young man there is your third party?"

"Yes. He's not a part of the exorcists, nor is he a god. He's just a regular friend who's agreed to help me tonight." Lucrezia said.

"Rinji, go ahead and hand that young man the duffle bag."

Rinji nodded and picked up the bag of bones. He slung it over his shoulder and converged in the middle of the street with Osamu. Now that he was so close to Rinji, Osamu felt the power of his oppressive, towering stature. It felt as though he stood a good two feet above Osamu, and his arms looked strong enough to snap a school bus in half.

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(This guy looks inhumanly strong...)

Despite his herculean physique, Rinji gently handed Osamu the duffle bag, bowed respectfully, and returned to Amatsuki's side. Osamu returned to Lucrezia's side and dropped the bag on the floor, squatting as he opened it.

He pulled back the zipper, bracing himself with a steady breath in and out. Sure enough, he laid eyes on a real, human skeleton. He checked the skull, spotting the diamond-shaped hole above the eye. His stomach twisted into knots as he checked the ribs, noticing that four of them were indeed cracked.

"It checks out." Osamu said. "Looks like this is your friend."

"Good. Take Shinju and the bag back to your place. You know what to do from there." Lucrezia said.

"And you're sure you'll be okay by yourself for a while?" Osamu asked. "There's two of them, Lucrezia..."

"I'll manage. Just drop them off safely."

"All right, then. Hang in there, Lucrezia."

Osamu walked away from the cross street with Shinju and the bag in tow, leaving Lucrezia to face down Amatsuki.

"Well then, shall we get started?" Amatsuki questioned.

Amatsuki removed her gloves and took hold of her katana, its handle wrapped in bandages as to make gripping it easier on her hands. Amatsuki took her stance with her blade held high. Lucrezia immediately noticed it was the Ko Gasumi stance, a staple of practiced swordsmen.

Amatsuki first move was so fast it displaced the very air around her and was almost impossible to see. Lucrezia still managed to avoid the stabbing thrust of her sword by rolling over to the side. A second swing came down upon her from the upper right and was blocked by metal guards on Lucrezia's arm.

As sparks flew from the first hit, Amatsuki kicked Lucrezia in the sternum, knocking her into one of the empty buildings with bullet-like speed. Lucrezia came out of the plume of dust and smoke unaffected, her shoes crunching on broken glass and concrete.

Lucrezia leaped into the air, nearly landing a balance-shattering kick on Amatsuki's head. The two entered a flurry of fluid, acrobatic movements as Lucrezia tried to land a solid punch on Amatsuki and deflect her blade at the same time. Lucrezia quickly performed a sequence of kuji-in and formed her hand into a gun. A powerful, concussive blast blew from her fingertip blew Amatsuki into the side wall of a vacant house, cracking it.

"Madam!" Rinji screamed.

"I'm fine!" Amatsuki assured. Good shot, Lucrezia. You're using Shinju's fighting style as if it were your own."

Amatsuki lowered her sword and waited for Lucrezia to raise up her hand again. Lucrezia quickly brought up her hand and fired off another concussive blast, only for Amatsuki's sword to cut it in half, protecting her from its impact. However, in doing so, the sword chipped at the base. Amatsuki threw her sword to the side and blocked the next blast with her arms. The concussive impact bruised Amatsuki's forearms, turning them blue and purple.

"You think you're the only one who knows kuji-in? Brother learned a lot from Bishamon, and it was all passed down to me as well." Amatsuki laughed.

"Right. 'Passed down.' We'll go with that." Lucrezia chided.

Amatsuki locked her hands in the Rin gesture, summoning a chain whip imbued with lightning. Lucrezia swiftly dodged the horizontal slashes of the whip. She made some space between her and Amatsuki so she could cast away her metal arm guards, knowing they'd only attract electricity.

Amatsuki lashed the whip around Lucrezia's feet and swung her into through the glass entrance of the vacant corner store. The building caught on fire after impact with Lucrezia still stuck in the rubble, a large chunk of ceiling tile pinning her waist. The fire crawled across the ceiling, shattering the glass casing of the above lighting fixtures.

"Better get out of there, Lucrezia! Lest you become human roast!" Amatsuki mocked.

The fire began to spread and burn the surrounding homes, sending a plume of smoke into the air that Osamu could see from the streets.

"Hang on, Lucrezia."

Lucrezia used her concussive blast technique to shatter the debris that toppled her and snuff out the flames in her immediate surroundings. She was able to escape the burning building as its embers rained down and illuminated the street. As she caught her breath, Amautsuki took another swing at her with her chain whip, only for Lucrezia to dodge it and pull on the whip to bring her closer.

The pull sent Amatsuki flying towards Lucrezia and almost made her the victim of a harsh punch. Amatsuki grabbed onto Lucrezia's wrists to stop the punch, letting go of the chain whip. She landed behind Lucrezia, locking her arm in a restraint as she withdrew her hunting knife. Lucrezia caught the knife with her other hand, preventing Amatsuki from stabbing it into her side.

Amatsuki pulled on Lucrezia's arm, drawing pained screams from the exorcist. She violently grabbed Lucrezia by her hair and threw her to the other end of the street, where she regained her balance as she landed. Amatsuki placed her hands in the Zai gesture, summoning Bishamon's Fire Spear.

"Another one of Satori's goodies you salvaged?" Lucrezia asked.

"Technically, this belonged to Bishamon. I'm merely borrowing it."

In that split second, all of Lucrezia instincts suddenly told her to get out of the way. When she did, the tree behind her was engulfed in blue flames.

Lucrezia turned her gaze towards the burn marks on Amatsuki's neck. "You must've played with fire one too many times, huh? Thieves always get burned in the end."

"Classy words for a girl who's about to die!" Amatsuki screamed.

Lucrezia was able to block the incoming flames from the spear with a small wall of water that immediately burnt up and clouded the street in mist. Lucrezia heard Amatsuki's fast footsteps as she raced through the mist and kicked Lucrezia in her back, knocking her several feet away.

The two clashed once more with their respective powers of water and fire, this time, in much greater magnitude. Amatsuki's burst of flames met with Lucrezia's rushing wall of water. The two powerful forces rushed towards each other and exploded, sending water flying into the sky and raining back down onto the streets.

Lucrezia was short of breath and getting dizzy, while Amatsuki's shivering hands were clouded in a veil of steam rising from her skin.

Amatsuki laughed as the water continued to rain down upon them. "Honestly? I thought you'd die a lot quicker than this. I'm actually starting to get aches on my body now. Rinji!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Rinji stepped in to assist Amatsuki, standing by her side and helping her off the ground.

"I had a feeling you'd be a sore loser about this, Amatsuki." Lucrezia sneered.

"There's no such thing as fair play with you exorcists!" Amatsuki said.

Amatsuki smiled as Rinji locked his hands in the Rin gesture, creating a massive thunderbolt in his hands. Lucrezia stepped back, her legs and arms shaking in fear. Rinji hurled the bolt of thunder like a javelin. It wasn't too fast for her to block, but it was too powerful for the attack to be deflected in its entirety.

Lucrezia was knocked back as the roar of the thunderclap screeched through the air, rustling the trees and howling in the distance. She crashed inside of a partially constructed apartment complex, the building mostly comprised of concrete steps and a wooden exterior.

"One more hit, Madam, and she should be dead." Rinji said.

"How naive of her, to think I would play fair. Shouldn't she know by now? Criminals don't abide by the law." Amatsuki remarked.

Inside, Lucrezia's hazy vision was getting clearer. She staggered onto her knees and put her hand on her stomach. She felt the warm drops of her own blood on her hand and sat against the steel wall. The injury wasn't life threatening, but it was enough to lessen her fighting capability.

Rinji kept firing off thunderbolts at the building, knocking down the iron rods that made up the structural skeleton. Lucrezia braved through the pain in her stomach to get up and dodge one of the falling rods. The blasts and roaring thunder were getting more and more accurate. Sooner or later, she wouldn't have a place to run to.

"Come out and get it over with, Lucrezia! Stop stalling!" Amatsuki screamed.

Lucrezia cowered inside of the building, shielding her head from falling debris. Once the rain of steel and broken concrete stopped, she readied herself for a final confrontation. She took deep breaths and closed her eyes, thinking of Satori. Remembering who all of this was for, Lucrezia stood on her feet and marched outside, confronting both Amatsuki and Rinji.

Rinji focused all of his energy into summoning energy from the clouds above. His eyes were closed, and his hands were still locked in the Rin position. The clouds roared with angry thunder and screamed with vicious lightning as a lightning dragon descended from the sky, its blue light illuminating the black clouds.

"You even stole Gekko's signature move, didn't you, Bishamon?" Lucrezia growled.

“This is it, Lucrezia." Amatsuki chuckled.

Rinji yelled out as he sent the dragon crashing down upon the building, it's blast clouding the area in thick, black smoke, which coursed with electricity. The loud crash of the blast made everyone's ears pop and their hair flutter in its shockwaves.

The smoke was the only thing veiling the aftermath of the explosion.