The buzzing of the tattoo gun continued for what seemed like hours. The longer Yami sat in the chair, the less he felt the tattoo gun, and the more he felt the ink forming into the pattern on his left hand. Posche had started near his fingertips, and Yami could now feel that he was nearing his wrist. With his mind left wandering, Yami began to draw about unclear thoughts, but a recurring character continued to invade his mind - Shippai.
His thoughts had been nothing but peaceful. He imagined what his life could have been like if she had accepted him, and the thoughts of him holding her in her arms as they watched the sunset atop a hill sent relaxation through his nerves.
“That seems so wonderful… Maybe I can still convince her! I can’t stop trying!”
But as he felt the tattoo gun raise from the bottom of his hand, his once peaceful thoughts became filled with hatred. Yami’s faced began to scrunch up as if it were in pain. He once again thought of himself sitting underneath a sunset, except Shippai was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is she!”
Yami jumped up and began looking around, seeing Shippai nowhere. He began to jog down the hill towards a lake that was facing him. Nearing the edge of the lake, Yami found a dock, at which point he ran towards. Upon reaching the edge of the dock, yami stopped and looked up at the setting sun, feeling extreme loneliness. As he did so, he felt something bump into the dock, and he glanced down into the lake. As he stared, a large bag became visible, and he reached into the water and pulled the bag up onto the dock. It was very heavy, causing Yami to struggle. Once the bag was atop the dock, Yami saw that at the bottom of the bag, there was a rope tied to the end. Pulling the rope up revealed that the other end was tied to a large rock. Fearing the worse, Yami gulped and pulled out his pocket knife, cutting open the bag. As he opened it, his eyes widened in terror, and his face showed terror. Dropping the knife, Yami began to tear at the bag until what was inside was now in his arms. Shippai.
Wet and cold, Shippai laid in Yami’s arms, not moving in the slightest of her own accord. Yami felt her wrist for a pulse, but there was nothing. Beginning to lose himself, Yami began to yell.
“HELP! THIS GIRL WAS DROWNING!”
Putting his ear against her chest revealed a very faint beat. Face becoming determined, Yami grabbed his knife, cutting open her shirt, revealing her stomach and bra. Yami placed his hands firmly on her chest and began to push with all of his might at a steady rate. After minutes, he began to doubt himself.
“Shippai, please! Please don’t die.. I need you… Please!”
Tears rolled down Yami’s face, and as they hit Shippai’s face, she coughed up water and choked on the freshness of the air. Relieved and happy, Yami smiled and wiped the tears from his face.
“Thank god you’re alive. I’m so happy I found you in time. I really thought you would-”
“SHUT UP!” Visibly scared, Shippai covered herself and began to cry.
Blushing, Yami put his head on the ground.
“I’m sorry I did that, Shippai! I was just trying to save you!”
In a low voice, Shippai looked down into the lake.
“You did this… to help me?” Bending down, Shippai picked up Yami’s knife. “You wrapped your arms around me, making me go unconscious, tied me into a bag, and threw me into the lake... In order to help me?”
Yami widened his eyes, and fear overcame his face.
“What… what do you mean? I didn’t do this!”
Walking slowly towards Yami, Shippai glared at him.
“I swear, I will help you Shippai! I didn’t do this! Let’s calm down and-” The blade of the knife was now against Yami’s throat. The tip felt as though it would puncture through Yami’s thyroid like a balloon that was filled to the brim with air.
“Goodbye, you piece of shit!” The blade forced itself through Yami’s throat and out the other side of his neck. Removing the knife from Yami’s throat, Shippai dropped the knife onto the dock and began to run away, yelling for help.
Yami fell onto his stomach, leaving himself in a now rather large pool of blood that was growing by the second. The sunset reflected off of his now dull eyes.
“Why did I do this... I… I loved her…”
As his vision darkened, Yami was brought back to consciousness by Posche, who was shaking his shoulder.
“Hey, you okay? I finished your Sirushi Inochi. You can look at it now if you wish.”
Yami hazily looked at his palm, noticing that the pattern was on his hand, yet it was very crude. What Yami had drawn was very rounded, yet what appeared on his hand was jagged. What was once a circle with triangles forming what looked like a shuriken was now a square with equilateral triangles on each corner.
“What the hell is this? I thought you were going to draw what I showed you!”
Posche shook his head.
“I have told you before, at first it will be very rough around the edges, but as you perfect it, it will come out to be more rounded. You must give it time.”
Now opening and closing his hand, Yami remembered what he had seen.
“Hey Mr. P. While you were inking me, I began to zone out. I was thinking very peaceful and happy thoughts, but as soon as you removed the tattoo gun, they quickly changed into something much worse. They became the exact opposite of what they were before. My peacefulness and happiness was replaced with rage and anger. Do you have any theories as to why?”
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Posche squinted as he thought to himself.
“Well, there were tales of side effects due to being the Jinsei no Hogo. It makes sense that insanity must be one of them. I must do more research to figure out how to control this.”
Quickly finding an excuse, Posche blurted out.
“It must just be that you were so used to the ink pouring in that you felt a small shock to the sudden stop of it. It’s never happened to me personally, but others have had this happen to them. Don’t worry about it!”
Picking up the supplies that were used for this task, Posche began to exit the room.
“It’s around noon now. Go home, get something to eat, and get some rest. You will begin to feel very exhausted due to the body accepting the ink as a Sirushi inochi, so I recommend that you get some rest. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to try to train you to figure out what your Sirushi Inochi does. In the meantime, I’ll do some research and see if i can dig up some info on other ones that have a similar pattern to yours. If you feel anything that you think may help discover the potential of it, make sure to write it down. Be here at 9:30 again. See you later!”
Standing up and stretching, Yami rubbed his right shoulder with his left hand. Beginning to lower his hand, his face was overcome with a look of surprise. Rushing out of the room, Yami began to yell.
“WAIT! MR. P! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO MAKE THIS GO INVISIBLE!”
Running out the door and into the basement, Posche looked behind and smiled.
“About that… You better find some gloves until you learn to make it invisible. Good luck!”
Posche walked away laughing. Filled with anger, Yami yelled so loud, it echoed throughout the town.
“YOU OLD BASTARD!”
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Sneaking through his garage, Yami found a pair of old work gloves. Putting them on, he felt how dirty they were, and the dirt settling underneath his fingernails was unsettling, Yami knew it was better than if his family saw his Sirushi Inochi, which they would assume is just a tattoo, but for good reason. Yami quickly paddled up the staircase towards his room, but he was suddenly stopped by the bellowing voice of his father.
“Why are you wearing my gloves?”
Yami, already planning ahead for when this question was asked, simply replied, “I’m doing some woodworking stuff on my furniture.”
“Well,” his father started, “If you cost me anymore money, you can figure out how to live on your own.”
Shrugging this off, Yami proceeded into his room, shutting the door behind himself. As he threw himself onto his bed, he took off the gloves and stared at his palm.
“I really should try to make this invisible. The sooner the better. I guess we’ll start by redirecting some life essence into it...”
Closing his eyes and beginning to meditate, Yami channeled life essence into his palm. It began to vaguely vibrate in response.
“Haha! I got it now! Activate Invisibility!”
Sending waves of heat throughout his body, Yami felt immense pain from the center of his palm. As Yami rolled around in his bed, he scratched at his palm in an attempt to reduce or stop the pain, but it was to no avail. The pain could not be stopped, and as Yami rolled around in pain, he reached for his pocket and pulled out his phone. Hardly able to type the numbers into the phone, Yami managed to start a call with Posche. After a few rounds of ringing, Yami begin to curse under his breath.
“Posche, you better pick up right now! So help me god, I’ll-”
“Yami? What is it?”
The pain had yet to reduce in the slightest, so as Yami attempted to speak, it came out in short bursts, of which sounded very muffled.
“Please… Help… Me… Tried… To…. Go…. Invisible!”
Posche shook his head. Grabbing his bags, he began to walk down his basement stairs.
“Is anyone in your room?”
Yami was now in such a state of pain, he could only make the first sound of “No.”
“Okay, just stay calm. I’ll be there in 10 seconds.”
Posche firmly stood in front of the door that led to the office. He unrolled his sleeves, then, sliding his left hand down his right forearm, Posche yelled.
“Heya Tatsujin: Sentō!”
Posche then smashed his right palm onto the door. Posche then rushed into the door, and found himself in the same room as Yami, who was now on the floor squirming. Posche reached into his left pocket, retrieving two dark blue pills. Grabbing Yami, he ordered him to swallow the pills. Yami obeyed, and took the pills. Near simultaneously, his pain stopped. With a sigh, Posche began to speak to Yami.
“There, now you just need rest. DO NOT ATTEMPT THAT AGAIN.”
These words fell on deaf ears, though, because Yami had already fallen asleep. Shaking his head, Posche walked back through the door which he had entered through, finding himself at his house.
“This boy has a long way to go.”
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Sunshine splattered on Yami’s window, spreading beams off in many directions, one of said beams hitting Yami in the eyes. Yami groggily opened his eyes, feeling vulnerable to the harsh sunlight that had awoken him from his comfortable state of slumber. As Yami began to push himself up with his hands, he felt the soft strains of carpet run through his fingers.
“It’s already been a month since all of this happened...”
Standing up and stretching, Yami looked at the palm of his left hand. The once very square-like shape was replaced with a perfect circle. The four triangles that surround it, though, was no longer present. Picking up the gloves from his bed, Yami looked at his phone. The time displayed 9:33, causing Yami to dart down the stairs and slip on his shoes whilst fumbling to put on his gloves. Shutting the door behind him, Yami jumped off the porch that resided in front of his house and began to sprint down the sidewalk, he was grabbed by a hand residing behind a building. With a gasp, Yami was flung through an open door, and fell flat on his face. Lifting himself up, he turned to see the door slam shut, and a man walk towards him.
“What do you want with me,” Yami asked scaredly?
“I want to begin our training,” the man revealed his face from the shadows. It was Posche. “You ARE 5 minutes 23 seconds late, so I figured I’d come and see how you were doing.”
Still regaining his breath, Yami stood up, not quite sure how to react to the situation. Looking around, Yami noticed that the room he was pulled into was a small field of grass which was surrounded by a forest about 100 meters away. The scent of pollen drifted through the air, and the wildlife even chirped in the distance.
“So,” Yami began. “What was so urgent I couldn’t be a little late?”
“You are far too lax with the use of your abilities. Do not even begin to pretend last night did not happen. I will take part of the blame for not properly telling you the consequences of what you did, but I did say to not do anything until I said you were ready, did I not?” Posche continued to glare at Yami until he got the response he wanted.
“Yes, you did.” Looking down at his hand, he promptly removed his glove. “Hey Posche, you said that most Sirushi Inochi start off as polygons and slowly turn into more smooth as I learn to use it, right? Well look at this.” Raising his palm towards Posche, Posche nearly fell backwards when he saw the transformation that had taken place.
“When did you see this had happened?” Posche’s tone was now one of urgency.
“When I woke up today, I guess.”
“I see.” Inspecting Yami’s hand further, he asked another question. “So what happened to the triangles that surrounded it?”
“I have no idea, but I guess I have no idea about all of this. You end up researching this pattern?”
“Yes, I did. It appears as though you have a pattern which resembles that of an offensive symbol. From what I read, it’s safe to assume that the triangles are the specific skills, while the squa- erhm, circle is your level of power and is where it is formed. As for how the shape of the square changed so suddenly… I have no explanation for it.”
“That doesn’t matter anyways, that’s only one piece of the puzzle. What do I need to do to learn these skills? I want to master this as soon as possible!”
“Yami,” Posche barked at Yami. “You forget that you couldn’t even make your Sirushi Inochi go invisible, yet you think that you can master your technique? You truly are insane. Now sit down so I can lecture you.”
Begrudgingly, Yami sat on the soft grass below him. “So what do I need to know?”
“Well,” Posche started, “As I have already told you, life essence is the fuel for your Sirushi Inochi. The Sirushi Inochi can, to some extent, be compared to that of a light bulb. You send an amount of your life essence, electricity, from your soul, your battery, into the Sirushi Inochi, the light bulb, which will produce whatever effects you desire it to do, granted it is part of the symbol. There are a few common traits between all Sirushi Inochi, however, which you don’t necessarily have to train repeatedly to control, such as the technique I am going to teach you, that being transparency. Transparency is arguably the simplest skill all Pǔbiàn Fǎnxiǎngs hold. To accomplish this feat, one must send a small amount of life essence into the Sirushi Inochi and shroud it completely in life essence, almost as if you are covering it with a blanket.”
Yami looked at Posche with confusion. “How is that going to change it?”
“Well, to the naked eye you can’t see life essence. Adept Pǔbiàn Fǎnxiǎng may be able to sense it, but aside from that, it is invisible. So in the act of covering the Sirushi Inochi, you are just covering it up.”
Yami jumped up with excitement. “Sounds easy enough! Let’s give it as go!”
Posche nodded in agreement. “But do take it easy, your control isn’t refined to the point that you can send the exact amounts. You send too much, and you’ll be out for the rest of the day. Small bursts.”
“Alright!” Yami closed his eyes and began to enter a state of focus. With his eyes quickly fluttering open, he prepared to endure his first training session with Posche.