Posche picked himself up from the floor. His vision was blurred, and the stream of blood on his face caused the tip of his nose to tickle as it dripped onto the ground. A slight ringing was the only sound his ears could pick-up. Posche managed to sit himself against the wall which had a large hole in it from his face being slammed into it. As he turned his head to his left, he noticed Yami wasn't standing in the same position as when Posche blacked out. Posche began to force himself onto his feet. He saw the kitchen knife on the floor a distance away from him on the floor. Bending down to pick it up, Posche inspected the knife. As he noticed the newly formed burns on the handle, the ringing slowly started to fade, and the muffled sounds of pounding started to pulsate into his eardrums. Turning towards the source of the noise revealed a fresh hole through a wall, creating an entrance into the living room of Posche’s house.
Climbing through the hole in the wall revealed a scene of carnage. A coffee table was smashed in half with a man unconscious and Yami on top of of him, forcing his fists onto the man’s face with enough force to cause loud flesh-on-flesh sound to reverberate. Posche could now hear Yami grunting as he punched. Yami stopped swinging his fists.
“Mr. P… what are you hiding from me… what does it mean to be the Jinsei no Hogo!”
Yami turned around towards Posche. Blood covered his fists, shirt, and some had splattered onto his face. Opening his eyes revealed that Yami’s right eye no longer had a pupil or iris. They were replaced by a jagged red line that spanned the entire visible eye, and the typically white padding was replaced by a black void. Posche’s eyes widened in response.
“Y-Yami, you need to calm down. I will explain everything.”
Yami gritted his teeth.
“YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT YOU FILTHY LIAR!”
Yami lunged himself at Posche, and at an alarming speed. Posche slid his right hand down a door behind him, then ducked while simultaneously kicking the door open. Yami flew into the meadow, covering himself in dirt. Quickly picking himself up, he threw himself at Posche once again.
“YOU BASTARD! I’LL KILL YO-”
Posche slammed the door shut, sliding his hand down it once again. In the meadow, Yami hit his head on the door. Throwing himself up again, he began to tug on the doorknob, but to no avail. The door was securely shut. Yami pounded on the door. Yami began to scream for Posche repeatedly.
“YOU BASTARD! YOU LIAR! GET BACK HERE! I’LL RIP YOU APART!”
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In the living room of Posche’s house, Posche walked towards the broken coffee table, in which a man, presumably the hooded figure, laid, covered in blood and bruises from Yami’s onslaught. The right side of the man’s abdomen was seared, and the clothing that had covered the site of impact was missing. Posche heard a gurgle.
“..that monster… what is he? There’s… no way that’s him…”
Posche looked down on this man.
“How did you find him?”
The man smirked.
“The Jinsei no Hogo… holds many wonders… Who wouldn’t be attracted? After all… we’re all like flies to shit.”
The man’s breathing stopped.
“This guy really had no plan, did he.”
Posche examined the man's left forearm. A chain of three triangles intertwined with each other laid on it.
“As tragic as this is, I have much more pressing concerns.”
Posche looked towards the door that Yami fell into.
“I must call them immediately.”
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“Why did you lie to me!”
Yami was punching trees, causing large holes to form in them.
“Everyone always lies to me! I trusted you!”
“Yami… you can trust me. Let us go home.”
Yami stopped punching the tree and gritted his teeth with his fosts clenched at his sides.
“Even if you aren't lying to me, I can't trust you… I can't trust anyone, not even myself.”
“But you are forgetting our purpose, Yami. Look at how strong I have made you in this very short and abrupt amount of time! Imagine the possibilities if I am released!”
“BURN IN HELL!”
Yami resumed his tree punching routine.
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Posche laid on the floor in his living room as Shippai and Shitto ran in.
As Shippai ran towards Posche, Shitto yelled at Posche.
“Where is he?!?!”
Posche stood up and walked to the door and slid his right hand down it once again.
“Shitto, try to not harm him.”
“Posche,” Shippai said, “Come sit down. I'll heal you.”
Shitto opened the door and darted through it. Posche sat down onto his couch, and Shippai began to have a green substance ooze out from under her shirt, down her arm, and into her hand. She began to coat Posche in it.
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“What the hell happened, Posche?”
Posche pointed at the man on the ground.
“He attacked me, but Yami saved me. That man did something to Yami, though. I think it's a mind manipulation technique.”
Shippai looked over at the man.
“Posche, what are you hiding from me?”
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Yami was now on a river bank, smashing his hand into the large rocks that lay next to it. Shitto yelled at Yami from a tree.
“Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing? Stop that and calm down!”
Yami hurled a medium sized rock, about the size of his torso, at Shitto, who jumped to another branch in response.
“Shitto,” Yami shouted, “do you know what I am?!?!”
Shitto gritted his teeth.
“Yeah,” he snarled. “You're a fucking monster!”
“What was that?!?!”
Shitto swooped down from the branch and punched Yami in the jaw at an astounding speed. The impact sent Yami falling face first into the river. Trying to pick himself up, Yami was stopped by a hand that was now gripping his head. Yami started splashing around in the water in an attempt to break free.
“Yami! Stop!”
Yami started to slow his struggling until he was just sitting still in the water with his eyes closed.
“Yami,” Shitto said. “Look in the water.”
Yami opened his eyes and saw his reflection in the water. There was blood and dirt all over him. His right eye was not the same as his left.
“Yami, you're a monster, but I know that you're human. Don't let whatever that is inside of you take over.”
Yami shut his eyes, and tears rolled down his cheeks.
“Shitto,” Yami choked out, “is Posche okay?”
“He's pretty beat up, but I don't know if you did anything to him.”
“And… the other guy?”
“Yami, you killed him.”
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Shippai helped Posche walk to the door with his arm over her shoulder. Yami was sitting against a tree in the shade with his back turned away from the door. Shitto was waiting near the door with his arms crossed.
“Shitto,” Posche said, “did you calm him down?”
Shitto didn’t look towards Posche.
“Yeah,” Shitto said, with a small tone of anger in his voice. “He’s calm alright.”
“Thank goodness. I hope that person didn’t tell him anyth-”
“He knows, Phil. That’s why he flipped out in the first place. You should’ve told him.”
Posche did not respond.
“Shippai, please let me go. I’ll be okay now.”
Shippai dropped his arm.
“Thank you. Both of you. Shippai, can you please tend to Yami?”
Shippai walked towards Yami without a word being spoken. As soon as she was out of earshot, Shitto said something more.
“He knows something isn’t right with him, too. I think your theory is shaping up to be right.”
Posche silently accepted what Shitto had said.
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Yami silently looked at the huge forest in front of him. The wildlife seemed to be absent, and the only noise he heard was the cold breeze that reminded him of what he had done.
“Hey.”
Yami did not do anything in response to Shippai.
“Are you hurt? I’m here to heal you.”
Yami nodded and stood up. Taking off his shirt revealed bruises and cuts all over him. Shippai started to cover Yami with the green substance.
After a few moments, Yami’s bruises were gone, and most of the cuts were closed.
“Anything else, Yami?”
Putting his shirt back on, Yami shook his head and sat back down. Sighing, Shippai sat down next to Yami.
“What’s up, Yami?”
Yami clenched his fists.
“I went beserk. I tried to attack Shitto, injured Mr. P, and killed that man… I don’t even know what came over me… I’m a monster.”
“You wanna know something, Yami? I really haven’t liked you for a while. You always seemed like you were missing something, and you never had a clue how to treat a girl, but today, you did something that I can’t ignore.”
Yami gritted his teeth to prepare himself for the berating he was about to feel.
“You saved our teacher.”
Yami loosened his grip and relaxed his mouth. He turned to look at Shippai who was smiling.
“I have a Sirushi Inochi that was made to save people, but you did it on your own. Good job, Yami.”
Tears began to form in Yami’s eyes.
“Now stop sulking over that guy and continue training to become the greatest echo, no, PERSON that has ever lived!”
Wiping his eyes, Yami smiled.
“Thank you, Shippai. I will!”
Shippai stood up.
“Although this is gonna sound contradictory, I think you should relax for the day. I healed your wounds, but you are still gonna be pretty sore.”
Yami nodded. Shippai walked back to the door.
“Alright, Posche. I got him in high spirits, but now it’s your time to talk to him. Tell him what he deserves to know. Otherwise, I’m done. I have my own life to worry about too.”
Posche looked at the ground.
“Phil, go.”
Posche looked up at Yami again, and walked towards him.
“Yami!”
Yami, quickly remembering that he attacked Posche, turned to face him.
“Mr. P… I’m so sorry that I lunged at you!”
“Yami, don’t apologize! I came here to thank you. You saved my life. That man would’ve killed me if you wouldn’t have shown up. But I also owe you an apology. I should’ve told you earlier. What it means to be the Jinsei no Hogo, that is.”
Yami fell silent.
“I was fearful for what may happen to you if I told you, but people are already noticing that you are alive, so there’s no more hiding it. Come with me.”
Walking just behind him, Yami followed Posche to the door, which Posche opened to a large library. The texts on the shelves showed their age.
“Welcome to the Library of the Jinsei no Hogo. This library contains knowledge of Sirushi Inochi, and the tales of the previous Jinsei no Hogos. One could say that this is your personal library now.”
Yami began to walk around.
“This huge library… is mine?”
Posche handed Yami a book.
“Before you read anything else, I want you to read this book.”
Yami looked at the cover of the book. It was titled “Jinsei no Hogo: A History and Culture.” There was no author.
“Mr. P, is this about me?”
“Yes, and all of your previous lives. It also explains what it means to be a Jinsei no Hogo.”
Yami gulped. Opening the cover of the book, Yami saw a message that was glowing blue. It read:
To the Jinsei no Hogo,
If you have found this book, that means you are starting, or are already, at the most important point in your lives. This is a message that only you can read. No one can even trace a presence in this book.
I am Jitsu-
“Hey, Yami! What’re you looking at? I’m still trying to talk to you.”
Yami shut the book.
“Yeah, sorry. What were you saying, Mr. P?”
“Currently, only I have the ability to come here. So if you need in here, ask me.”
“I will.”
Posche sat down in a chair.
“So, there’s something I must tell you before you even begin the book. If someone kills you, they will absorb the ability that you have. The ability to learn any Sirushi Inochi, that is. That is the reason that man attacked me, and you will likely be the target of many people.”
Yami looked down silently at the book.
“There are things I am doing to help you stay in your own house, though. With the help of Shitto and Shippai, I have placed life essence nodes around your house so that they will mask your presence.”
“Thank you.”
Posche smiled.
“No problem. Let’s call it a day. Go home and get some rest. We’ll resume training in a couple of weeks.”
Yami nodded and began to walk out of the door, but then stopped abruptly.
“A couple weeks!?!? That’s when school starts!”
Posche smiled.
“Sorry Yami, but as a teacher, I also have to prepare! Make sure to have that book read by the time school starts, okay Yami?”
Yami grinned and nodded his head once more.
“For sure. See ya at school, Mr. P!”
Yami walked out of the door, leaving Posche to himself. Sliding his hand down the door, he walked back towards the bookshelves.
“I suppose I should touch up on how to teach him my Sirushi Inochi.”
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As Yami shut the door, Shitto saluted him.
“Welcome, Jinsei no Hogo, sir!”
“Knock that off!”
“Really though, I can’t wait to help you out.”
Yami smiled.
“Thanks, Shitto!”
“See ya at school, Yami,” Shippai said, walking into the door, which now led outside.
“Thanks! See you two at school!”
Shippai and Shitto walked through the door, leaving Yami alone. He glanced in the direction of the cave, but then looked back down at the book in his hands.
“Burn in hell, Akahishi.”
Darting through the door, Yami ran down the street in the direction of his house.
“Now that all of this boring introductory stuff is done, I can get to being me. The Jinsei no Hogo!”