Chapter 5

Keisuke was taken within a temple.

He stared at the inside in awe.

It was beautiful and ornate, with sacred furnishings and tapestries and scented candles that wafted through the air.

“Come,” Sumire said.

Keisuke obeyed.

Once in the temple, they knelt before an altar, and the shinigami Sumire bid him prey to a deity.

“This is the deity that we shinigami worship,” Sumire said.

“Who are they?” Keisuke asked.

—x—

(after they pray to deity, Sumire and Keisuke train)

“Your footwork is too sloppy,” Sumire noted. “You may have talent, but talent is everything. A more experienced shinigami can wipe the floor with you.”

“This Is tough, Keisuke noted, before Sumire punched him soliidly in the gut. It hurt.

“Keisuke, I want you to go all out with me,” Sumire said, though Keisuke was out of breath from all their hard training.

He din’t knw how he managed to keep up his now plodding pace, but he tried to block her powerful blows and nullify her flames.

After training, they rested.

Keisuke learned more about the theories of magic.

“So, tha’ts how it works,” he said while nodding in satisfaction.

“Basically,” Sumire said, before she looked out towards the horizon with a somewhat distant gaze on her face. Keisuek looked towards her and wondered—what could she possibly be thinking? Was she worried baout Natsumi and Toshirou? Keisuke had to wonder about them too. They were fighting on the frontlines against that demon and his hordes of demons that were planning on infesting the Grand Central City, being drawn by Keisuke, he imagined. There was no break or respite from the demon hordes, and Keisuke dedicated to himself everyday to grow stronger in his powers so that he would one day eliminate that demon that swallowed the Oracle’s head in its monstrous nad cavernous maw.

“Do you think that we’ll win?” Keisuke asked Sumire.

She looked to him as though he were stupid.

“We’ve got to,” she said with a finality that brooked no argument. “Otherwise, the shinigami world is doomed.”

“That sounds like big trouble,” Keisuke saiud, and Sumire nodded.

“However, up you get again,” Sumire said as she readied her flame whip. “There’s no rest for you boy. Keep on training until you’re able to operfectly nulffiy my flames without even thinking”

“Just how many scorch marks am I going to have to endure?” Keisuke complained, but he went right to it and the training session resumed again. The Shinigami Sumire blasted a flame enhanced punch towards Keisuike’s face, which he captured with his fist out of reflex. It burned, though, and Keisuke gritted his teeth against the burns that immediately started to heal and sizzle after being impacted by her flame punch.Damn, why couldn’t he nullify her flame punch this time? It was a different type of flame than before, blue flames instead of the red flames.

“So you’ve noticed a difference?” Sumire said with a smirk. “Blue flames are more intense than red flames. ANd the most powerful flames of them alll, black flames, sear anything and everything to ash if you don’t nullify them.

“Yikes,” Keisuke said, and he jabbed. “I don’t plan on dying in the faterlife just yet. I made a promise to Natsumi-san and Toshirou-san…that I would survive, no matter what?”

“Can you actually back up those words, boy?” Sunmire said. “Because you’re light years aweay form hoping to face me in a real battle!”

With that she punched him directly in the gut, and he flew several centimerers away into a building and crashed. Keisuke coughed up some blood. She pucnehd harder than he thought. Damn, how was he going to best her though? He needed to think of another strategy rather than just bruteforcing irt. Or figureo ut on the fly how his powers worked. When he was in the middle of battle, just naming an emotion and then projecting that emotion as a focus wasn’t enough. He needed concentrtion, and there were a million things going on in his mind at once while he was fighting against Sumire.

“Damn you!” she cried out, before she hurled several fireballs at the location he was at.

He crossed his arms and ednured them all, though they burned like hell, even as his skin was regenerating and healing from the burns.

“I’m telling you Keisuke that demon that you unleashed is far stronger than you are now,” Sumire said. “You need to outwit your opponent and think of how to hanlde opponents that are obviously more stronger or experienced than yo uare. Wht are you going to do?”

“I don’t know!” Keisuke cried out in despair. He tried everything. He had the will, he thought, but even that wasn’t enough against Sumire. She was simply stronger than him, and the oppressive aura that she embodied was overwhleming. It was white hot firey passion, and he couldn’t compete against that. It was as overwhelming as Zen and the blond-haired shinigami’s superiority, but something about it burned more intense than the fiery hot flames. He still couldn’t yet find an emotion that he could harness and channel—he had no memroies, so what emotions could hedraw upon from his past and entire being? He was a blank slate—and he didn’t know what to do or draw upon. He needed strength, but from who?

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He thought about Zen. What he would do to Natsumi and Toshirou if he didn’t speak upagainst them inthe court. Keisuke’s hand clenched into fists and gritted his teeth. That dishonorable bastard would do anything to undermine his friends! It was just unthinkable~ Keisuke drew upon his anger towards Zen and he repelled the flames that crawled towards him. Success!

Eager, he drew upon his anger and attempted a counter attack of his own.

“Good, but not good enough!” Sumire said, as the flames intensified and broke his barrier.

Keisuke cursed. What could he do? He used all his energy and emotion into anger. If he couldn’t beat Sumire, then what could he do? There ewas nothing left…or was there? He needed to think, though being in the heat of battle and flames made it difficult to concentrate!

An image of Natsumi flashed through his mind. His heart swelled with tenderness for her, and Keisuke knew what emotion he would draw upon. He gathered all his strength and focused on Natsumi’s face in his mind’s eye. Thinking about how she saved him from the Lake of Despair. How grateful she seemed to be when he saved her life and came back for her. The two of them were bonded now, whether or not she liked it, and after she shared some of her shinigami powers with him. That was a special bond that couldn’t be broken, and Keisuke drew upon his wealth of emotion for her and a great white barrier of light radiated out from him when the flames started to enroach him. The flames disipated immediately, and couldn’t touch him. He winked one eye open and saw that Sumire was nodding in approval

Keisuke sighed in relief as he took a break from the training sesssion. HIs muscles ached, though there was a satisfaction to the entire ordeal that left him feeling warm and his heart swelled with pride. That seemed like another emotion that he could draw upon, pride. He wondered if there was something special about him that he could use different types of emotions to draw upon rather than just on singular source, rather than just one emotion like Sumire's passion and Zen's arrogance. He wondered what type of emotions that Natsumi and Toshirou drew upon, though he supposed that was something he would ask them at a later date when they could actually get together and see one another again.

Still, he wondered how they were doing. They were fighting on the front lines, he suspected, but he didn't want them to get hurt. He wanted to hear reports about them, anything to know that his friends were safe. He hated the thoughto f leaving them behind to train, though he made an incremental amount of progress today, didn't he? Surely he would be able to get out of training on the batltefield right now, right?

"You may have discovered something quickly," Sumire said, as though reading his thoughts. "Though you don't have the experience in actual combat to back it up. I know that you want to help Natsumi and Toshirou against that demon and the demon hordes, though there's nohing you can do at the moment. As it is, we can't risk letting your soul getting devoured by the demons or else humanity and the rest of the shinigami clanwill be wiped out."

"Hm," Keisuke said. "You know what, I was wondering...how do you draw upon your source of passion? That's what motivates you, right? What made you so passionate and fiery?"

Sumire smiled at him as she folded her hands in front of her and said. "It's a secret!"

"Come on, you could tell me," Keisuke pleaded. "You're a friend of Natsumi and Toshirou's, right? Anyone who's a friend of them is a friend of mine."

"I've been watching your training session, actually," Zen said as he approached. Sumire stiffened and Keisuke also felt that same slimy arrogance rolling off of Zen in waves. It was suffocating and he felt the same sensation of snakes writhing against his body like he did before. Keisuke swallowed, before he glared at Zen.

"You were watching?"

"I believe that the training grounds are open to any and all," Zen said with a lazy drawl, before he drew his sword and pointed it at Keisuke. "Duel with me, would you?"

"He's not ready yet," Sumire said, before Keisuke stepped into the center with determination in his eyes. "I'm not going to let his insults fly by unnoticed. Besides, this guy needs a beating, and I need to beat some sense int othis guy as well."

"You will never hope to defeat me," Zen said as ice started to form and frost the air and ground around them. "Come, dog."

"I won't let you beat me!" Keisuke said as he hurled a punch towards Zen, thoug Zen moved too quickly to be seen. Keisuke stuttered, and then Zen stutter stepped and hit him soundly in the bakc of the head with his sword.

Keisuke crumpled to the ground, hough he wasn't down yet. An ordinary man would've been conked out by such a blow, though thanks to Keisuke's shinigami durability, he was able to stay conscious, though the blow stung his head. However, he couldn't move as Zen frosted the ground at his feet and prevented him from moving. Keisuke attempted to use his love for Natsumi against it, thoug hit seemed that even his love for Natsumi wasn't enough to overpower the ice that frosted his feet.

"Ha, I see," Zen said with a lazy smirk as he slashed forward with his sword. "Your power comes from her, of course."

"Your power comes down from looking down at others," Keisuke said with a frown. "How could you live with yourself like that? How does it feel to constantly have your nose up in the air and look down on everyone and everything as inferior? I wonder what kind of self confidence that is."

"You understand nothing, boy," Zen said, and Keisuke managed to block the sword wit his hands thoug he noticed that Zen was creeping ice along the blade and onto his hands. "I won't lose to you. Not now. Not ever! Because...I've won 90 times in the academy without any losses! Your skills are inferior!"

"So what?" Keisuke said, and Zen looked at him as though he were crazy. "It doesn't matter if you're undefeated or whatever. Eventually, when you lose, you're gonna take it harder than anyone else. No one wins forever."

"But I can," Zen said with arrogance, and he laughed as he began slashed at Keisuke and putting several lacerations on his body. "You see, I was born to be superior. I come from a noble house. I come from a distinguished lineage. And I used to do my work in the shadows but when my talent was acknowledged I became partof the police force. I'm my own self made man. I am...superior!!!"

"Toshirou and Natsumi would never think like you," Keisuke said with a frown as he finally broke out of the ice that put his feet in place. "You're actually inferior, Zen."

"Oh?" Zen said, though Keisuke thought he saw a flicker of doubt shadow his face. Good. Maybe Keisuke could exploit this.

"Because obviously," Keisuke said with an infuriating smirk that possibly matched Zen's own. "Natsumi-san didn't choose you."

"That does it, bastard," Zen said, and his aura flared bright before and the arrogance and feeling of writhing snakes only became more intensified. The air became cold, and Sumire seared away the ice from Keisuke so that it didn't shatter his body parts. Though Zen had a look in his eyes that meant to kill, and Sumire intervened right then.

"Look, Zen, you're acting very unprofessional," Sumire said. 'However, the love life between Zen and Natsumi doesn't matter. Keisuke, you're tempting fate by making an enemy out of Zen."

"I will never forgive him," Keisuke said with a frown, though he suddenly felt drained. Defeated. Zen was a lot stronger than he could ever hope to be. And he didn't know how he would handle that. "He..."

Sumire looked towards Keisuke telling him to stop. He did so.

"Zen is..." Sumire said, before Zen glared at Sumire and then looked towards Keisuke.

"Whatever, dog," Zen said. "I will forgive your transgression against me today. However, do keep in mind that I'm a high ranking officer in the shinigami force Academy. You would do well to not cross blades with me...or your head will be detached from your shoulders.