Ichi's left hand crawled to his chest. There his fingers slid across the seal Myon placed there. Rikya offered to take it off for him during their days cooped up in the shrine, but Ichi denied her.

"Honorable war wound," Ichi muttered as he ripped the seal off his chest.

His whole body seized up. The feeling of an extended sneeze ran through his body. Ichi didn't have that much strength left in the first place. Myon's words haunted him. It'd either kill him or revive his strength. Ichi wanted one bad enough at the moment to accept the other. His muscles relaxed and he stood up shakily, wearing only his ripped shorts. Syon glanced and Ichi and Ichi saw her face went red. He thought that this really wasn't the time.

But, she did save him. Ichi didn't have the strength left to pull the shikigami. That was before he tore off Myon's seal. He felt no gratitude at all. What burned inside of him Ichi couldn't understand, but he knew what he wanted to do next.

Ichi pulled the shikigami paper out, a folded rectangle with a decorative cord. He pinched it by the end, holding it like a worksheet he used to forget to do back when he was going to a real school.

Ichi pushed the paper into the side of Syon's head, his brow furrowed.

"Get lost, Idiyon."

Ichi poked the shikigami into the side of her head. He chanted "go, go" under his breath as she turned her head. Ichi got a glimpse of her slate colored eyes before he poked the shikigami inbetween them, causing Syon to squint. Syon had a second to read the words written on the front of the shikigami before her eyes squinted by reflex. She was able to confirm her mounting fear as she finished reading the text written on the shikigami. Then Ichi poked her again, and again. Tears pooled up in the sides of her eyes.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Ichi failed to notice that in Syon's right hand a folded iron fan fell out of her sleeve and she snatched it.

"Ichi, the ca-" Syon started to say as Ichi interrupted her with a growling "Get lost."

Ichi wanted to punch her. The air chilled his blood. An instant had passed, his eyes had closed, and when they opened-

Ichi's arm holding the shikigami was frozen in ice. Before he could react Syon snatched the shikigami with her silver gloved hand and tucked it through the neck of her tight white garment. Syon took a few steps back.

Ichi reimagined the form of bigfoot in his mind. Podcasts he used to listen to when he walked to school flashed in his mind as he body grew hairy again and the ice broke. He stepped over Renya's still form, walking over to Syon who looked to right and left in panic as a massive hairy hand grabbed her robe and picked her up off the rooftop. Syon's face turned aside as Ichi burned his gaze into Syon's avoiding slate eyes. He thought they were pretty, but they were Syon's eyes.

"Give it back"

"The ca-" Syon whispered.

"No one cares about the stupid cat. Didn't Myon tell you about the Seer's Council member that's coming? I'll need that shikigami."

"Seer's Council member?" Syon said, her tone wavering.

"Myon didn't tell you?" Ichi growled at her.

Ichi held his other hand out. He felt the energy of his stick mix against each other as he channeled his spiritual power into the white side. It flew from across where it was planted in the roof into Ichi's hand, and Ichi touched the dark side to Syon's chin.

Syon turned and locked eyes with Ichi for a second before turning away. Her hand shot into her robe and pulled out a small pink notebook with a magical girl on the cover. She held the iron fan and journal in one hand as her silver gloved hand shifted the pages with the other.

"Who?" Syon's voice quavered. "Who!"

Ichi put Syon down as he watched her panic. He slung his stick over his broad shoulders.

"Someone called the 'Worst'."

"Ah-" Syon squeaked out dismay as she flicked a pen out of thin air and began scribbling and muttering under her breath.

"Then — Armory — So Ichi gets the — then Renya — and why? — No matter."

Syon sighed. Her eyes closed as she shut her notebook.

"We should run." Syon said.