Kyuuto took the time to think about his actions in the following weeks staying on the island and witnessing multiple warrior rotations. He visited his parents' graves after more than a year of avoiding them. Sadness enveloped him when he saw their gravestones.

"I'm sorry mom, dad... I didn't have the courage to visit you for a long time. Seeing you like this now... makes me feel heavy inside," Kyuuto reminisced about the time before the curse happened. Kyuuto and Koori were close even before their daily training, while he and Shin were never close in any manner. He remembered the time when he encountered his older brother in his room, crying alone. As he walked into the room, Koori hid what seems like a pile of paper with drawings on it.

"What are those?" Kyuuto asked.

"Nothing, just random scribbles," his brother answered quietly. He seems displeased when Kyuuto suddenly entered his room, but then he smiled and wiped his tears. He put the scribbles into a drawer, then walked along with Kyuuto to the living room.

Shin was there in the living room, he was watching his favorite program. But after being alerted of his youngest brother's presence, he moved to another room, leaving the TV on. Kyuuto was always confused with his oldest brother's behavior. He really liked to avoid him seemingly at all cost.

At that moment, Koori and Kyuuto sat on the couch and talked about their training. "We have to do this everyday, in order to be ready in the future," Koori proclaimed, "we're gonna train on the hill behind the high school,"

"But why? I mean, we're not gonna be involved in a war right?" Kyuuto innocently asked.

Koori held his breath for a moment then answered, "It's for self-defense, and who knows what you will fight in the future," he smiled, then proceeds to explain his plans for his brother's training.

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Some nights then passed, Shin approached Koori who was sitting on the balcony of the house, also crying alone. "How was it?" he asked while leaning on the balcony railing.

"I think I can't take it anymore," Koori explained with teary eyes and sobbing, "Let's just kill him right now," he clenched his fist and punched the wall behind him.

Shin then gave his brother a pat on his right shoulder, ensuring him, "We agreed on this right? You already told us that you'll be nice to him, giving him a proper life before everything falls apart. As dad said, Kyuuto is our only hope. For better or worse, we have to make sure he survives until the day comes," Shin then patted Koori's head and went back inside.

As the months went by, Kyuuto and Kori's training were getting more intensive than ever. Sometimes Koori even forgot that they are actually practicing their skills to fight each other one day. He was often seen blanked out while training, leaving Kyuuto with confused looks as he suddenly stops talking and stares blankly at the distance.

One day, Koori and Shin had a conversation again in the middle of the night. Koori expressed his overall satisfaction with Kyuuto's progress, while Shin seems to have grown more cautious than before.

"I feel it... the day of the curse is near," he said in a cold voice. The sight of blinking stars above them worn out by the lights emanated from the city. Shin talked with long pauses about his premonition, "the dark keeps crawling into my mind. I don't know when exactly I will be fully consumed by it,"

When Koori asked when he thought the curse will happen, Shin replied with, "A couple months from now, we have to be ready,"

Koori mustered his courage once more, giving all his might to train Kyuuto to be the best fighter he could ever be. At least know the basics of fighting before the real thing begins. Three months after that conversation, their training finally came to an end.

Koori also felt something was creeping behind his back. An ancient great soul ready to take over his body to do his bidding. Koori struggled to fight off the distracting thoughts of killing his brother, and tried to be more focused on his training.