The colorful, vibrant beauty of the limitless Void’s sunset sky was interrupted by the appearance of a swath of fresh crimson-red blood.

Rai’s brilliant white hair intermingled with droplets of his own blood as he was forced back by Tamashi’s powerful kick. The painful sound of Rai crashing into the ground echoed for miles throughout the never-ending expanse. The landing was accompanied by a gasp of pain released from Rai’s mouth.

Tamashi slowly and methodically lowered his leg to the sky-like ground. He shifted his arms to the empty space behind his head and began to relax his breathing.

‘I won. I really won. I won a real fight.’

Tears formed around the base of each of Tamashi’s ocean blue eyes. He slowly picked up his right arm and proceeded to use it to wipe his eyes. At the same time, his lips parted to form a bright, expressive smile.

——

Tamashi towered over Rai’s limp and unresponsive body, pondering over his next steps.

‘So, where do I go from here? I’m standing in the middle of nowhere with the unconscious Seishin of Lightning. I have no idea if I actually got any sort of access to his powers, and I also have no idea on how to get home.’

Tamashi squinted his eyes.

‘Man, did my opponent really have to be my tour guide? This really sucks.’

A sting reminiscent of a static shock was felt around Tamashi’s right wrist. He raised his arm in order to inspect his hand.

Electric sparks were sporadically appearing and circling his arm. Tamashi noticed that the sparks appeared to be colored red.

‘Woah, red electricity… That’s so weird. But why… Maybe, I should shake Rai’s hand? One way to find out, I guess.’

Tamashi directed his attention to Rai’s right wrist. Similar sparks were appearing near the Seishin’s wrist.

‘Well, I guess that settles it. I’m going to shake his hand.’

Tamashi reached down towards Rai’s right arm. As he was reaching down, Tamashi glanced over at Rai’s face.

Under the shine of the blazing white hair, the shine of Rai’s blue irises could be seen.

‘Oh, shit. This is gonna be bad.’

“What the hell are you doing, YOU CHEATER!”

‘Cheater?’

Rai snapped up into a seated position and slapped the inside of his hand into Tamashi’s chest.

“I’M KILLING YOU, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, DIE!”

Tamashi’s eyes locked onto Rai’s hand in a state of shock as he prepared for the worst.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Except, the worst never came.

After a long moment of silence, Rai tilted his head down. Tamashi broke out of his shock and pushed Rai’s arm away. Tamashi lowered himself onto his left knee.

As Rai’s face reappeared in Tamashi’s view, he noticed that it was in a state of agony.

“I can’t… I can’t do this again. Why… I was just keeping a promise… I never wanted to…”

“What, do you think I’m not worthy of you, Rai?”

Rai snapped his head back up and shifted his expression back to anger.

“OF COURSE YOU’RE NOT WORTHY! NO ONE’S WORTHY! MY POWER IS TOO MUCH FOR A WEAK HUMAN TO HANDLE! I SHOULD’VE NEVER CHOSEN YOU TO BE MY DOMAIN!”

“So why did you? Why did you chose me?”

Rai briefly fell silent and drifted his glance towards the ground. He then answered with a raspy, crackling voice.

“Because… I promised someone… I promised that I would…”

“Wait, you promised someone that you would choose me?”

Tamashi’s eyes began to widen as he theorized the possibilities of whom Rai would make such a promise to.

‘Wait, could he be talking about my-‘

“WHO CARES?! WHY WOULD YOU CARE?!, WHY WOULD ANYONE CARE?! I KNOW I SURE AS HELL DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT ANYMORE. ALL I WANT TO DO IS STAY AWAY FROM THIS IDIOTIC WORLD OF PEOPLE USING THE ELEMENTS TO KILL EACH OTHER. THAT’S WHY I WALKED AWAY. I CAN’T STAND THIS WORLD!”

“But, aren’t there good people who use the elements to fend off the bad ones and keep the world in check? Those people are needed.”

“OH, BECAUSE KITA IS THE GOOD SIDE AND MINAMI IS THE BAD SIDE. BECAUSE IT’S AS SIMPLE AS BLACK AND WHITE. OR SO THEY SAY.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t really trust either side.”

“SO IF YOU DON’T, JUST LEAVE ME. I’LL BE FINE ON MY OWN. LEAVE ME. JUST LEAVE ME. FORGET ABOUT THIS WORLD AND GO BACK TO BEING A HAPPY KID. LEAVE-“

“No. I can’t do that.”

Rai fell silent as he raised his head to meet Tamashi’s eyes.

“I can’t, and I won’t, leave you now. I need your powers in order to get stronger. I need to get stronger in order to take on Bri and clear my name. I need to get stronger in order to protect my friends, in case they get caught up in all this. I need to get stronger in order to become someone that the world can rely on. I have this stupid powerful guy living rent-free in my mind, so I should work with him in order to do something good. Maybe I could even become the guy who ends the fighting once and for all. You see, Rai, I need you. You’re important to me.”

Clouds that had been partially obscuring the orange sunlight began to dissipate. Sunlight reflected off of Tamashi’s left cheek, causing his eyes to sparkle.

“Rai, let’s be friends.”

Suddenly, a flashback appeared in Rai’s mind. A young girl with long, straight black hair reached out her hand towards Rai. Her eyes were obscured by strands of hair that rested on her face.

“Hey, Rai, let’s be friends! We’ll beat the bad guys together!”

As the memory began to fade, Rai shed a single tear from his left eye. Ignoring the tear as if it never appeared, Rai rose up from the ground and reached his arm down to Tamashi.

“Alright, Tamayo, I’ll honor the deal with you. Don’t come crying to me if you get yourself killed.”

Tamashi smiled as he moved his arm towards Rai’s outstretched hand.

“I guess I’ll just have to avoid getting killed then. Maybe I’ll accomplish that by becoming the strongest Riyosha of all.”

“That’s a big statement coming from a guy who’s still not even close to becoming a Riyosha.”

“I wonder what that makes me then?”

Tamashi grabbed Rai’s hand and lifted himself off his knee.

Suddenly, the red and blue sparks that circled each of the doppelganger’s wrists merged and formed a purple web of lightning. The web then expanded and engulfed the Void within a second of its formation. Shortly after the ball disappeared, the handshake was released, and Tamashi glanced around the Void.

“Woah, what the hell? The whole place is purple now!”

“Yeah, it’s a symbol of our deal. Once you train, you’ll be able to use some of my powers.”

“I wonder if I’ll be able to use any right off the bat? That would be cool!”

As Tamashi set his mind to find a way to produce lightning, a slight smile formed on Rai’s face.

‘You’re not a Riyosha yet, Tamayo, but you’re on your way to becoming one. I hope you’re right and you’ll avoid dying, because that would really suck. As for what you are right now, you’re really just borrowing some of my powers, so I think I’ll call you…’

Rai looked up to the purple-tinted sky, gazing at the paint-like cotton ball clouds that calmly drifted along their endless and aimless path.

‘… the Karite of Lightning.’

——

Episode: Karite