喰霊－ 零－

Will you kill someone you love, because of love?

この番組は角川書店とご覧のスポンサーの提供でお送りいたします!

Disclaimer: Segawa Hajime, the creator of Ga-Rei and Kadokawa Shoten, the company that serialises it, own all copyrighted material this fanfiction may include such as characters, events, dialogue, et cetera. However, some of the titles are mine, as are most of the events so hah!

A/N: Alas, all things must come to an end. Let's hope this is remembered as one of the good ones, though. ^_~ Yes, this is the final chapter I'm writing for this story as the next chapter will play out exactly as the anime has it. Yomi's been horrifically injured and Mitogawa's plot has come to fruition. With the knowledge of what they've all done to help in the white-haired boy's plans, what are the thoughts inside the minds of Nori, Kagura, and especially Tohru and Natsuki? For those who've seen the first episode of the anime, you know what the end result was, but now it's hopefully more clear and direct why Yomi says what she does.

To my readers, MaesLawliet, haha, thought you might pick up on that. Yes, I was hoping to elicit more of Yomi's antagonistic side to relate it even closer to the manga's version of her malicious spirit form. I've done this type of role portrayal before with my Shuyin in my Final Fantasy X-2 fiction, Eternal Love. For fans of Final Fantasy, you can find it on my profile page. ^_~ I feel this type of development can better identify just why a person goes to the other side so willingly in appearance. A further analysis of it is in the sequel to Eternal Love, Spira: The Eternal Discord. I found that the third arc of the manga dealt with Yomi in a similar fashion, which also inspired my taking Yomi's character in that direction for this fiction.

To Ominae: Actually, I think the Ministry of Defence received all sorts of customised weaponry modified from their existing military forms, which is why I based all of them on existing munitions. I do agree that they should have their fair exposure and it would be more interesting to see how typical humans could handle the same threats. Seeing the ease Yomi or Kagura use to deal with the spirits can become boring unless they escalate like they did in the manga, but they could keep the Ministry of Defence for the smaller scaled missions, which is what I tried to do in the last chapter. I'm glad it was surprising but not distracting for you.

Now, without further ado, I present Episode 9 of my Ga-rei Zero, The Gateway to Cruelty.

残酷扉－ざんこくのとびら－

GAREI -ZERO- episode 09

The chopper landed on the hospital's roof to a waiting team from the Ministry of Defence. As soon as possible, Nori and Natsuki had the stretcher on the roof and were already carting Yomi inside. Some of the team aided them, but it was apparent right from the landing that certain passengers were also in need. Tohru was despondent. Regardless of how long ago the tragedy in his life was, Aoi's face haunted him every day. He was almost possessed to find the white-haired boy that forced him to murder her and just minutes ago, he had provided him with assistance in his endeavors. He was lost on replay and seeing the end result of both instances the boy had fooled him. Aoi's limp body in the shallow water, her eye staring blankly at him blended with the motionless and bloodied form of Yomi, her remaining eye also wide open in shock and seeming to stare all too similar to her. Also needing support was Kagura, who had calmed since take off, but couldn't move past the actions she performed in recent events, which she continuously blamed herself for Yomi's present condition. Kagura felt the sting of betrayal in Yomi's eyes as the moment recalled itself to her. She had stopped Yomi from something she wasn't even sure she had been doing and to judge Yomi's reaction, she hadn't. There was more to that night than Kagura or the Ministry of the Environment or even the seers at the Countermeasures Division knew and, ill-equipped as that, she still chose to side against her sister who'd done everything for her.

The first minutes were the worst. All Nori and the others had to go by were some hardly reassuring words and a lasting look of concern from the doctors and the sight of Yomi's mutilated body struggling to keep a pulse and breath. Those minutes dragged into the first hour of what would become several and there was no word from any of the hospital staff on progress in her treatment. Meanwhile, Tohru had moved on from being a vegetable to fits of self-hatred and frustration. The tension about the waiting room was extensive and stress had everyone present struggling with their inner calm and professionalism.

"I should have seen it, Natsuki. It was happening again just like last time. It's him. I know it is!" Tohru growled, his trembling hands on his partner's shoulders.

"It's okay, Tohru. You already told me how it happened last time. He's very crafty and you couldn't have known he'd be back all of a sudden. It's not your fault and what you're doing isn't helping." She replied, trying to calm him.

However, calm wasn't a possibility at the moment, "It was him. I let him claim another one."

"You have to move past that."

"I fell for it again, Natsuki."

"We all did."

"He wanted me to fall for it."

"What he wants, we're probably never going to find out."

"I have to… for Aoi's sake." Tohru's eyes glared.

Natsuki struggled with what to say, but she knew she needed to calm him down, "I know what Aoi meant to you, but her death can't consume you or you'll fall for his tricks again and again. You know that!"

"I'm the one to kill him."

"Thinking like that is only going to let him kill you."

"Then, I'll take him with me!"

"Shut up!" Nori roared, his back to them as he continued to stand before the intensive care unit.

Tohru and Natsuki both took their eyes to him. Nori's simple exclamation awoke Tohru from drowning in personal demons. Aoi was long dead and there wasn't a thing to be done about it. Despite having been deceived then forced to murder her reanimated form, the tragedy was past and Tohru's quest for vengeance was driving him to reckless actions and creating more pain. His insanity just before was proof enough that obsessing over avenging his lost love was the best way to remain the boy's victim and fool. Yomi had paid the price for that. Was he going to sacrifice one more before realising it?

Looking at the doors behind which Yomi lay, Tohru nodded to Natsuki and began walking to Nori, "We are now in the same circumstances, but you've dealt with it differently than I have."

If he was to remember his love and honour her memory, he needed to maintain his usual collected demeanor and professionalism. Nori had done so and, by Tohru's belief, Nori would be allowed to remain at Yomi's side to protect her. In the future, that small difference would lead them on vastly different paths.

As Tohru turned, Nori's hand abruptly reached out and stopped him from leaving, "No, but I appreciate the sentiment."

Tohru only smiled, "Take care of her."

Without saying another word, he headed for the exit, Natsuki following close behind. Nori remained where he was, his eyes still fixed on the sign above the door. In his heart, he knew what his first action had to be once he knew Yomi had survived, but with what Tohru had just said, he'd have to stop himself from following in those footsteps. His Kuda-gitsune gave him insight into the world and had always allowed him to respond to incidences better than most, but this time the incident was Yomi. Nori decided that he would listen to Tohru and not fall into the same traps. He wouldn't dedicate his life to seeking vengeance. Rather, he knew Yomi's attacker would return and he'd wait for his opportunity.

"Yomi." Whimpered Kagura.

"Well, I can say that her life has been spared." The doctor informed both Kagura and Iwahata as they sat with him in his office, the scans illustrating Yomi's condition hanging behind him, "None of her injuries are fatal even though there are a total 108 puncture wounds on her person."

However, before the two could celebrate the good news, the Doctor clarified his point, "But, it would seem that her opponent made a coordinated attack and targeted her tendons and nerves, which have all been severed. Furthermore, her right eye and larynx have also suffered critical injury. I'm afraid it is entirely possible she'll never speak again."

Both Iwahata and Kagura gasped at the news. Still as a representative for the Ministry of the Environment's Supernatural Countermeasures Division, Iwahata was concerned also in regard to the investigation on Yomi. Despite hoping for his former teammate's full recovery on a personal level, Iwahata was sent by the ministry to see about the prospect of a future interrogation on the ex-slayer. The news that Yomi may only survive this episode a mute hindered that objective. With that in mind, he took on a more comfortable role as friend to Kagura, which meant there was another hope for good news.

"Well then, the possibility she'll ever be a slayer again?" He asked of the doctor.

"What are you saying?" Came the irritated reply, "It's doubtful even a regular life is salvageable."

"It can't be!" Kagura gasped.

"The chances she'll awake from her coma aren't enough to guarantee. I'm afraid the best outcome I can offer is that she'll live the rest of her life in that ward."

"That's enough. Thank you, Doctor Toriyama." Iwahata said, moving to face Kagura, "Yomi is strong so we have to be strong for her."

Kagura nodded her understanding and wanted to be strong in her sister's honour. It was the least she could do to make amends for her mistakes that led to Yomi's current state. However, deep inside, all she could hope for was that her sibling wouldn't hate her when she did recover. How did it get so far? All she had wanted was to stop her cherished sister from becoming a murderer. Out of that one move to oppose her, Yomi ended up being removed from the Countermeasures Division and injured to this degree. She knew all too well that none of the ministry felt any sympathy like she did. In the aftermath of Yomi's last struggle, they had discovered Mei's body and used it as further proof that Yomi had gone rogue. This was on account of what condition they found her in, which Kagura did not ever want to think about, but considering her sibling's predicament, her mind couldn't help but remind her. Part of her wondered if Yomi had truly caused her own cousin so much injury and without much remorse for it, either. At the ministry, she had heard that Mei used a stone called the Sesshouseki to heal herself from all her wounds. However, the Sesshouseki was a crystallised remnant of an ancient demon which corrupts whoever uses it. Apparently, it was assumed that Mei's injuries were too severe that she took the stone as a last resort in order to be healthy enough to capture Yomi. At least, that's what they came up with, a terribly one-sided story if Kagura had anything to say. Nori also had issue with it, but as they both were deemed too personally invested in Yomi, their accounts were dismissed and it became basic fact that Yomi had succumbed to personal demons that made her murder Mei and betray her adoptive family. Kagura could only hope that Yomi would wake and they could move past this unbearable turn of events.

Back at the Supernatural Countermeasures Division Headquarters, Jinguuji Ayame received the latest updates in their ongoing investigation of the Isayama Incident. Naturally, the foremost important site was where Yomi's body was recovered by Izuna Noriyuki and Tsuchimiya Kagura for the obvious reasons. However, it also held significance itself and potentially allowed a hypothesis on her actions to become plausible.

"In regard to the location where Yomi was found: We analysed the damage around Yomi. It seemed there were multiple projectiles released against her. Earlier reports suggested they were dealt by Isayama Mei's shattered halberd, but ballistics show that to be unlikely. We believe Yomi may have had an arrangement and she was betrayed. Readings of the area show high levels of miasma." The agent reported, "This is an image of the area and a closer view of the spot where she fell."

As he handed over the file, Ayame saw the cover image and recognised it almost immediately. It had been filed with her grandmother, the former chief of the division, and had been made by Isayama Naraku when he completed a mission against several spectres assaulting a former local residence. There was only one survivor rescued on that day and Ayame had remembered hearing about it on a number of occasions, most importantly, on the day Isayama Yomi was recruited. It was in her biography and detailed how she came to be known by her present name. Seeing that Yomi had returned to her former home could have meant that she no longer accepted her role as an Isayama clan slayer. Perhaps she made some sort of deal with an unknown antagonistic force in order to start a coupe and raze the Isayama clan. For her, it could have meant freedom as even Ayame knew they had never taken Yomi as one of their own.

"Continue." She told the agent.

"This is where we discovered Isayama Mei." He replied, handing over another image, "As you can see, her body was severely wounded. After forensics, we found that whatever wasn't severed or pierced was crushed, likely due to Isayama Yomi's spiritual beast. Her injuries also appear to have stemmed from her earlier bout with Yomi. The Sesshouseki wasn't found. We're looking into that right now."

"How did it come to this?" Kiri enquired, the question directed at the agent though it was meant to be rhetorical.

"It might be possible that a competition for the leading position in the Isayama clan created a bitter rivalry between them."

Ayame had already assumed this, but hearing them from the agent's mouth as she examined the photograph of Mei's remains, she just felt it ridiculous that such a trivial pursuit would have resulted in this, "Those two could have brutalised each other to this extent for that?"

"It's a possibility that cannot be dismissed." He answered, "Additional tests run on Mei's body suggest her soul was in a state of anxiety and envious hatred upon death. We performed final rites on it to send her spirit to rest, but the findings make their rivalry plausible."

Ayame didn't like it, but she had made the same reconstructions. The next step was simply to interrogate the criminal in person, despite having had such close relations with her before this incident.

The next words from the agent disturbed both Ayame and Kiri, "We cannot even dismiss the notion Yomi intended to kill Mei then herself."

"You mean a homicide-suicide?" Kiri asked.

The agent nodded as Kiri gasped, obviously flustered by the possible revelation, but Ayame didn't want to accept that and the next assumption had her all the more upset, "Otherwise, it could be that she sought to facilitate a victim image for herself following her vicious assault on Mei by critically injuring herself."

"Enough. Thank you, that will be all." Ayame ordered.

Swinging hard from her right, Yomi had broken through Mei's defence and loosed her grasp on her halberd. Following through, she had swung up and forced her cousin's arms into a compromising position. Mei, knowing this, angled the blade enough to partially deflect and block Shishio from finishing the next strike, but Yomi had seen her opening and wasn't about to allow Mei that luxury. Pushing through with all her might, the blade had scraped harshly against the halberd and plunged itself into and through Mei's forearm. Mei had screamed in pain, but Yomi had merely cast a sadistic grin and twisted her blade to sever the limb completely. Mei had pulled what remained of her arm to her chest, struggling to keep hold of her halberd, but Yomi had her within moments, stripping the weapon from her hand.

"Mei." She had growled, her hair concealing her countenance from her terrified cousin's view.

"Please no." Mei had begged of her, tears flowing freely from her eyes, "Yomi!"

"Be silent!" Had been her reply, revealing the cold, dead gaze hidden from Mei earlier, "I don't want to hear you ever again!"

She then raised Shishio, releasing Ranguren from it, and hovered over to Mei's fallen form. Mei took her eyes from her cousin to the menacing spiritual beast and had understood her fate. For a slight moment, Yomi's eyes had fallen upon Mei's own terrified gaze and memories of their childhood returned. She had remembered seeing her first minutes as an adopted Isayama, her father sending Mei with her to clean her up and better adjust herself to her new surroundings. She remembered assuming Mei as a surrogate sibling and hoping to regain what she had lost with her. However, the later memories overtook them, the years after when Mei would abandon her, challenge her, and stray further and further from that vision until...

"Ranguren-" Yomi growled, her teeth bared as she commanded her Ga-rei, "Houkoha!"

"Are you satisfied?" A familiar voice echoed.

"You're the one that deluded Mei, aren't you?" Yomi asked, suddenly seeing herself back before the ruins of her former home, a boy with white hair sitting on some rubble just a few yards ahead.

"In the end, it took someone like her with that remarkable heart to bring all this to reality." Mitogawa said.

"What are you talking about?"

"You."

Yomi's eye flared open as she found herself greeting a bright sunny day. As her other senses returned to her, she realised she was in a hospital room and facing the ceiling. If the white paneled room with the one fluorescent light blinding her wasn't enough of a clue, the faint but distinct smell of ammonia and used blankets made that revelation impossible to miss. What was of greater difficulty was figuring out why she seemed to only have some of her field of sight back and why she had woken in this place to begin with. Scanning around the room found her nothing, but the elapsed time brought one more sense back to Yomi and revealed to her everything that was wrong. Her body burned with pain and the dark spot to the right of her visual range told her one of her eyes was now non-functioning as she turned her other eye to it.

Looking back to the left, she noticed a nurse arriving to check her charts. Seeing her awake, she simply nodded and walked back out, making a slight mention about calling for her doctor. Barely making out what was through the windows on the left, she couldn't find Kagura or Nori anywhere and worried about their condition following that incident. She wanted to curse out at her pain, her helplessness, and remark on the betrayals she suffered that led her to this predicament. She both wanted Kagura by her side and hated her for being partially at fault for Mei's revival. She had interfered in that crucial first fight with Mei, something increasingly important for the slayer. She had met this Mitogawa Kazuhiro before, even seen her file and identified him, but the many missed moments allowed him to poison Mei and, in turn, destroy her, as well. She wanted to alert the staff to contact the ministry, but again, she found she didn't have the capacity. Her voice was gone and, with it, her last chance to save herself.

"How are you feeling, Yomi?" The chief asked her, Kiri by her side with kunai in hand.

Seeing her former superiors in this light brought her fate into reality. Kiri had always been rather stoic towards the rest of the team, but they knew she was fiercely loyal. To see her hostile towards her stun at Yomi's heart. She never wanted this outcome and she knew now who was responsible, but it was far too late to do anything about that. She just hoped to get past it without worse in store.

Fighting back the tears, she struggled but made the slightest of nods, awkwardly faking a smile after to show her good health. Kiri frowned and glared into Yomi, the expression piercing her deeper than any of her kunai ever could. For the next few hours, the chief interrogated her, asking about prior motives for resenting Mei or Yuu, plotting the downfall of the Isayama clan, possibly having set up her entire rescue and adoption, even suggesting she bargained with malicious spirits to efface her adoptive family. In spite of the pain those questions caused her, Yomi remained vigilant and answered each one.

"Tap once for 'yes', twice for 'no', okay?" She had instructed. Yomi had only the use of her right hand, and even then, just the strength to move two to three fingers so that became the only solution to having an early questioning rather than waiting for her recovery.

"We'll get straight to the point and start asking. If you feel you do not want to answer a particular question, that is fine, but not recommended. Anything you do will be documented and could be used to determine possible criminal allegations. Do you understand?"

Yomi bit back her resentment and tapped the counter once.

"Excellent. I reviewed your recent mobile activity and found that the last number you used was Mei's. Is this accurate?"

Yomi tapped once again.

"Did you call her out on patrol or to handle slayer duties?"

Yomi tapped twice, the strain on her weakened form excruciating.

"Did it have anything to do with our organisation's activities?"

Again, Yomi tapped twice.

"So it was a personal vendetta."

Yomi held back for a moment, pleading with the two to skip the question, but she knew there was nothing to do and no one to save her. Taking a breath, she tapped the one time for "yes".

"Fine, then let me ask you: Are you the one that murdered Isayama Mei?"

Yomi let out a quiet gasp and blinked away the flood of images that showed her a raging monster savagely attacking her helpless cousin. Even if she had succumbed to the Sesshouseki, Mei would have died during Yomi's first assault. She had killed her cousin in cold blood and had nothing to justify her actions other than vengeance. Looking down at her hand, she tapped once.

"Was this due to the decision made by the Isayama clan to replace Isayama Naraku with his brother and subsequently with his daughter Mei?"

To this, Yomi felt saved. She could admit she had no jealousies of the decision and her reason for harming Mei was due to what she had done to her father. Quite readily, she tapped the two times for "no".

That was when Kiri snapped, "Tell the truth, Yomi. We saw you with Mei. If it wasn't you losing your spot in the hierarchy, what was it?"

Yomi tapped twice again for "no". She needed to get the point across that she wasn't petty about her actions, that Mei had done an unforgivable deed and thus was to be punished.

"Enough Kiri." The chief ordered, "So you murdered Mei without personal motives?"

Yomi tapped once happily.

"I see." The chief noted, "In that cas-"

"Did you hate my Mei so much?" Yuu growled, bursting through the room and unsheathing Shishio.

The elderly man aimed the swords point straight at Yomi's face, demanding answers for his adoptive niece's treachery. Yomi would later discover that her uncle learned of her later fight with Mei from the leaders of the Ministry of Defence. The chief had informed him of her previous one, but had made a note of Mei's acceptance of the Sesshouseki despite its evil properties. However, Yuu judged his daughter's decision as being the only method of bringing Yomi to justice. After being ambushed and besieged by one of the strongest spiritual beasts, the only way Mei could hope to challenge and arrest Yomi was to heal with the power of the Sesshouseki. Yuu deemed Mei a hero, one who sacrificed her very soul in order to try and apprehend a vicious and violent monster. Mei's only faults were probably giving her cousin the benefits of her sympathy and compassion, holding back her full capabilities so as to wake Yomi from whatever malevolence that possessed her. Instead, Yomi's lunacy overwhelmed an already fatally wounded Mei and the aggravated assaults were too much even for the Sesshouseki's power to protect, costing his daughter her life.

"Stop, we aren't finished here yet." The chief commanded, Kiri stepping in to stay Yuu's hand.

"Yomi, you say there was no envy in your motivation for killing Mei, though you still murdered her. Could the reason be that you allied yourself with another party that wanted Mei to die?"

Yomi tapped twice, but wanted so terribly for her to change the wording of the question just a little. In her mind she screamed, 'It was the white-haired boy! Mitogawa! It was him!'

However, the next question was, "So you were alone in your bloodlust."

Yomi tapped twice, not accepting that word, but knowing a "yes" helped her in a different way.

"So there was another. Who was it? Who wanted the downfall of the Isayama clan? Are they after the Tsuchimiya clan, as well?" The chief asked, "Tell me Yomi, were you planning to kill Kagura, too?"

Yomi's eyes went wide and her rage boiled back to the surface. She gritted her teeth and wanted intensely to be able to move, but all she could do was tap her fingers. In her anger, she began tapping several times, the strain unbearable, but no longer of concern to her.

"She's insane. She went mad after losing the coveted position of our family and killed my Mei in bitterness." Yuu suggested, lifting the Shishio, "And when a dog goes mad, you put it down."

Just as he swung down against Yomi, a tender hand shot out and caught the blade in her fingers. As Yuu turned his attention, he saw a stream of blood trickle from the girl's hand and noticed it was Tsuchimiya Kagura who had stopped him. Quickly pulling the weapon back and sheathing it, he grunted and proclaimed ownership of the sword in Mei's stead.

"You should understand where he's coming from, Yomi." The chief stated when Yuu left.

"From now on, the activities of the Supernatural Countermeasures Division are none of your concern. Worry more about your own well-being. You'll need it." Kiri coldly stated, wheeling the chief out of the room.

"We have Kagura now. She's grown to be a capable and reliable slayer in her own right. We are leaving all of your previous duties to her." The chief added just as they exited.

"I'm sorry, Yomi. They wouldn't tell me you woke up so they could come here without me." Kagura apologised, "If it wasn't for Nori-chan and his Kuda-gitsune, I still wouldn't know about it."

Yomi was unresponsive. What could she do? Even if she had the capacity to hold a conversation, what could she say to her sister? She had fallen and Kagura seized the advantage, even if it wasn't on purpose. Kagura had succeeded her before she was ever allowed the opportunity to accept and acknowledge it. Kagura who had betrayed her, who stopped her from dealing the righteous blow, who ended up forcing a second battle between Yomi and Mei, who accidentally allowed Mitogawa's schemes to flourish again, who had done so little yet received so much. Kagura who Yomi's heart froze from.

However, try as she might to ignore this one, Kagura continued to visit and chatted with her like before, as if nothing had occurred. The schism that tore through time and space to separate them, Kagura simply ignored and with each moment she bore it no mind, that schism began to shrivel. Yomi couldn't forgive her, no never. Yomi couldn't allow herself to weaken again and create more pain. Mei had loathed her all her life and yet, from a few slight gestures, Yomi had welcomed her into her heart only to have it shattered. She'd never allow a repeat.

Still, "Yomi, does it hurt? I'm sorry."

"I promise, Yomi, I promise to keep going for you."

"Don't be upset with them, Yomi."

"Is it better?"

"Yomi."

"Yomi."

"Yomi…"

Eventually, with all the support and comfort and consoling, Kagura was able to chip away at Yomi's embittered heart. Her visits became more frequent and lasted longer. She began talking about the mild nuisances she incurred from day to day thanks to Yacchi. Yomi's troubled mind began filling with school events, annoying boys, annoying but cute boys, what Yacchi got them into again, and the like. For the moments she was there, Yomi felt the larger issues at hand slip away, hoping that she'd return to that simpler world now that she was definitely a slayer no more.

However, Kagura's visits were always limited to the hospitals designated visiting hours. Nightfall brought a span of hours each day of loneliness, worry, and despair. Yomi was still paralysed. She was still never going to reclaim her life as it was. She could never claim a new one for herself. There was no chance she could live out a normal life. She was completely helpless and at the mercy of those around her. And there was one in particular that whispered to her on these nights when concern gripped her mind.

"Are you satisfied?"

"The Sesshouseki." Yomi said, choosing to utilise the opportunity rather than be haunted by it, "Is it true of its origin? Is it a part of that creature?"

"Ah, so you know about it then?" Mitogawa responded, seemingly pleased by her knowledge.

"It is a shard of the legendary Kyuubi fox demon. Its amazing spiritual power eventually wears away the body of its user and converts its soul into a malicious spirit. In the Tsuchimiya clan, they seal away its miasma and use that spiritual power across generations as a tool." Yomi said, reciting the texts and files she had read about the stone.

The boy merely laughed, running his hand through his hair to reveal his own Sesshouseki, "This one is much bigger and it's a pure crystal with all of the Kyuubi's nature afforded to it. It was discovered three years ago in the Vatican. Clearly, the object didn't need seals back in Japan. What were they thinking? Out there, they've figured out that the stone has awoken and so took the initiative to increase their forces against it. Panicking and frantically seeking the strength to combat it, doing everything they can to hide away the blackest moments of our history."

"So you gave the stone to Mei." Yomi growled, understanding that even Mei hadn't acted of her own accord.

"She didn't seem to agree with it. She didn't have the spiritual presence to revive herself." Mitogawa's words stung at Yomi's heart. To think that her hatred for Mei was only out of this boy's incessant trickery, "I've been searching for a proper bearer of the Sesshouseki. You appear to be more fit for it. Your spiritual power is great. Your own physical strength is equally strong. Furthermore, your resentment… that is also powerful."

Yomi was taken aback, recalling her recent emotions during those episodes. Did she resent anyone? Yes, she did. She regretted Kagura possibly surpassing her and voiced it to Nori as such. She had to admit she was at least partly envious of Mei's skill and success in missions, even holding a certain level of satisfaction when she discovered it was all a façade. Yomi couldn't hide the fact and understood Mitogawa's intentions. He had displayed Yomi's true heart for her, given proof to the Sesshouseki and the Kyuubi's soul within that Yomi had the darkness strong enough to house it. What could she do?

"Here! Ahhhhh." Kagura told Yomi, giving her a spoonful of hospital food.

Smiling weakly at the enthusiastic girl, Yomi did a instructed and ate the food, chewing more than usual to compensate for her ailed body. Yomi made a face after due to the wretched taste of mock American food they were serving at the hospital that day and Kagura joked about how finicky she was being. Once she had finished all of the meal, Kagura wiped her mouth and chin, called a nurse to pick up the tray, and began more conversation, though showing more zeal while recounting her day than before given what Kagura felt to be a better mood coming from her sister.

"Really now, what was Yacchi thinking?" She giggled, "Anyway, what should I make for you tomorrow? I was talking to the doctor before and she said you could start eating other foods now. I have to go to the Countermeasures Office today so I'll be late."

As Kagura reached for her mobile to check what else she had on her busy agenda, she saw Yomi stir, her lips moving as if trying to communicate. Worrying that Yomi had something important to say or something she needed, Kagura panicked, but quickly came up with a solution. Mobiles had a texting features and, since Yomi was still able to use her right hand, she could text what she wanted for Kagura to read.

Placing the device under Yomi's hand, she nodded to her sister and began looking at the screen. Yomi's first text was simply a name: Kagura.

Thrilled that Yomi was successfully communicating, Kagura chirped, "Yes! What is it, Yomi?"

However, Yomi next began texting, "Noriyuki, can I talk to him?"

Kagura immediately stiffened and stood, "Uh, Nori-chan's been very busy lately. I'll be sure to remind him to visit the hospital once in a while. Right, I'll be back later tonight then! Bye Yomi!"

Yomi was surprised by her response, but didn't think anything of it. Meanwhile, Kagura pressed her back against the wall outside and took in a breath and sigh of relief. She didn't want to be the one to tell Yomi what happened between her Uncle Yuu and Nori's father at the funeral, nor did she want to tell her their final decision while Yomi was in her coma. Taking in another deep breath, she looked back at the room before silently apologising and departing.

Having no reason in her mind as to why she should doubt Kagura, Yomi let her mind stray, staring out her window at the billowy white clouds and the bright blue sky. She gave notice to some flowers blowing against the breeze a little further off and thought about the shade under the tree still a bit further. Taking her attention back to the mobile, she erased the last portion of her sentence and changed it, making out the sentence, "I want to see Noriyuki."

Closing her eyes, she imagined being outside with the flowers and the breeze, walking along the park's curving path with Nori and getting shade under that tree. She thought about her life as a normal girl, no duties and obligations to defend Japan against malicious spirits, no complicated role in a family that resented her. She began changing that image, wondering if she, in her current state, could have that life. Thinking about her paralysis, she imagined Nori leaning her against him as they enjoyed each other's company, watching children playing in the distance and a few birds singing them a minuet or lulling them to sleep with a serenade. She thought about leaning against the tree while Nori played with the children, wrestling with the lot of them and rolling in the grass while she watched and cheered them on in silence. Yomi's visions shifted to the future, attending Kagura's wedding with the entire Ministry in attendance, no longer carrying their suspicions of her. She imagined her own wedding, pondering how she'd make it down the altar, or what sort of dress she could wear. She wondered if Nori would have to carry her down the aisle, her cheeks flushing red as the crowd watched, smiling warmly for the two of them.

"Sorry for the intrusion." A voice announced itself, the door opening then shutting.

Yomi recognised the voice instantly and woke herself from her reverie. With an awkward smile, she greeted the senior Izuna, happily contemplating if Nori was behind the door.

"I heard all about it. This has all been terribly cumbersome on you." The man stated, "How are you feeling? Are your wounds still hurting you?"

Yomi simply smiled, comforted by the kind words until… "I have something I need to speak to you about." He sighed, "Let me just tell you first, it isn't good news."

"What is the meaning of this old man?" Nori growled at his father, "Why did you break my engagement to Yomi?"

"It is on account of their not holding up their end, no longer placing Yomi at the head of their clan. I was not going to allow my son to become a wayward addition to their paltry farce of a clan."

"How could you no talk to me about this before making that decision? Even if Yomi wasn't made head of her family, just wait for her to heal, I'll marry her, and bring her into our family, alright?"

"I would never allow my son to marry someone who has been accused of murder in her own family."

"We don't even know if she did anything!" Noriyuki shouted, pounding his fist at a nearby beam.

"You're a son of the Izuna clan lineage and should know better."

"What?" Nori growled, narrowing his eyes.

"Do you expect to care for her the rest of your life? A person who has accumulated such heavy injury, conceiving a child will be very difficult if at all possible. Do you really want to be tied down by her forever? You're still a young man. There will be countless other opportunities waiting for you. I am your father. I'm not going to allow you to give up your future. Just tell yourself she's long passed and forget her."

Yomi listened to everything the elder Izuna had to say, though her mind began to lose focus, haunted by the voice of her tormentor.

"The deep hatred that envelops your heart, it makes you the perfect candidate to assume this stone." He told her.

"I'm not the kind of person to bear deep hatred for anyone!" Yomi retorted.

"Then what are you feeling now? This feeling, it isn't even the first time. What did you feel about her? How did you feel about what she did to you?"

"Quiet."

"How quaint." Mitogawa mused, "She pleaded with you so many times to stop."

"Quiet!"

"You should make use of this feeling. You're not wrong. This is a normal emotion for humans." He told her, "They're the ones that took it too far. It's so easy to understand that we all worked hard to get to this point. It was so difficult to find someone to care about, to care about you, only to have them pull away and destroy those bonds. And you? You've been cast off by them as a filthy traitor."

When Norisada was finished, he tried wiping the tears from Yomi's eyes only to have Yomi pull away as best she could. Understanding what he had done, but still feeling he had no other choice, he told her, "Please, do not hate Noriyuki for this. This is all my doing."

"Okay, ahhh!" Kagura said, offering another spoon of food to Yomi who promptly refused, "What's wrong? Aren't you hungry? Here."

Again Yomi shook her head to wave off the gesture and Kagura understood what it was that had hurt her sister's appetite. For a moment, she took to reviewing her actions, running from her the moment the subject arrived. She hadn't wanted Yomi to hear about the unhappy news from Nori's father, but she also didn't have the courage to tell Yomi herself.

"About the situation with Nori-chan… I'm sorry." Kagura ended up saying.

To this, Yomi shook her head again to show that she no longer held Kagura at fault for her shortcomings in life. Despite still having grievances over her younger sibling's lack of faith in her, Yomi knew that Kagura was only acting accordingly. After all, her actions were outlandish and irresponsible. There were several people to blame for that night and the events that followed; Yomi allotted herself the heaviest charges.

"'Kagura needs to care for Kagura's own life from now on. You shouldn't use up all your energy and time worrying about me.' That's what you're thinking, right?" Kagura asked, getting another spoonful.

"Idiot." She clarified, "Don't always make protests and just eat up! Otherwise, I just don't know what to do with you."

With that, she offered Yomi a curt grin and extended the spoon again, this time succeeding in having Yomi eat. "That's right. Eat your food or else I won't give you any dessert."

Yomi smiled warmly, though her heart was still filled with much more complications. She loved having the simplistic ideals of life that her sister shared and wanted to dwell in them forever, allow them to block out the cruel and distant, unsympathetic world outside. It would be so easy to lose herself to it, to just live each day like a little girl again. There wouldn't be internal politics about who she could marry, whom she could be like, whom she needed respect, obey, defend, defeat, and a great deal more imbecilic concepts that no one should have to be burdened with. It would be impossible for an underlying plot or a Mitogawa Kazuhiro. They could live proper lives and never have to deal with all this.

"Is that really what you want?" That horrid voice pondered.

In the coming hours Kagura would spend at Yomi's bedside, she prepared everything for the night. While continuing her usual ploy of telling her sister of her day, she brought out a cloth and began cleaning Yomi, being careful of her scars and sores, each one of them stinging deeply at her heart. Some part of her mind was able to fool the rest of her doubts, though, as she honestly believed that one day Yomi would come back home with her and they'd live and play every day just like before. She had been counting the days until the end of this miniseries in their adventures. However, each passing day made it more of a dream than the definite reality. That vision of the future was fading, but Kagura didn't want to let it go.

After Kagura finished giving Yomi her meal, she took out a box of Pocky, a snack item the two girls shared a taste for. Also, she hoped it could give her the strength to grasp the fleeting dreams tightly until they could come to reality. Opening the packet, she gave Yomi the first one, asking if it was good. Her sister's eyes told her that she knew Kagura's intentions and welcomed them, still being the overprotective elder sibling she was. Kagura was thankful for it.

"Next time I'll buy the strawberry ones for you." She said.

Yomi knew what Kagura was trying to do and was happy to reciprocate. She remembered one mischievous morning when they had to call her out of class on assignment. It was the same day her mobile's background image was taken, an image she never once removed. That day was so simple. They had to hunt down a rampaging Tsuchigumo and that was it. Kagura was still a novice back then and Yomi was the Countermeasures Division's prominent slayer, the only one who could brave their missions single-handedly. They called her out from school and Yomi played a trick on her.

"Delete that! Blasted collection!"

Later on in the vehicle, Yomi used the same snack as a distraction so Kagura wouldn't think too much about her mother's death. In the same vein, she believed Kagura was using the snack to distract her, take her away from the malice and cruelties she'd endured. It was a jubilating gesture so Yomi decided to reciprocate. Taking the furthest end of the Pocky stick in her teeth, she used her tongue to direct the other end straight at Kagura and waved her in. Last time, it had been Kagura's automatic maneuver to quell Yomi's celebration of victory.

"Hey, that was sneaky!"

"First to act, wins the lot."

Kagura realised what her sister was doing and, smiling, bit down on the other end. As before, she raced Yomi to the other end, only this time, Yomi wasn't fighting back. Kagura realised just then that she couldn't, Yomi no longer had so many motor functions, and broke down.

"Not like this… This is too much! Why does Yomi have to suffer like this? Why… Why? Everybody and everything failed her! Even me. Even I failed you, Yomi! If only we could have been normal sisters without taking the role of slayers, without having some destiny. I wish I could be normal siblings with Yomi living in the same home, attending the same school, having the same dreams, liking the same people, sometimes fighting with each other, always making up in the end and all for just trivial reasons. I really want to be normal people like that with Yomi as my sister! But instead… just because…"

Yomi's heart ached seeing her sister like this and not having any way to save her this time. There was so much more than what Kagura troubled herself with, but the little girl just couldn't have known. All the world's unfair and unjust devices somehow find a way to work themselves into normal lives and cause disarray. Yomi understood that now. The destiny and the responsibilities they were handed, despite what life had given them that they resented, there was nothing to be done about them but to continue living and hoping destiny has better waiting for them later on. Yomi could accept that her life would never recover and that the underlying schemes had already claimed her, but not Kagura. Destiny owed her this much. She took on the harshness and unyielding chaos on her behalf so that she should live out a better life. In the end, Kagura should discard her and move on to that better life because that was the only way.

Painfully, she forced her weak limb to move her hand across the bed and towards where Kagura wept. It was taking everything Yomi had left, but she pushed and willed her hand to her sister, doing her best to comfort the girl and reassure her that everything would work out for the better one day. Once Kagura felt the warm touch of her cherished sibling, she looked up and peered into her beautiful violet eyes, elation flowing through her and alleviating her sorrow. Kagura scolded herself silently for her complaints as she knew they didn't help anyone. Those wants and aspirations were pipedreams. Yomi and Kagura were both a part of their respective clans with responsibilities and duties expected of them. Running from them would be disgraceful. Additionally, Yomi could never walk again. She could never speak. The chances of them becoming normal sisters with a normal household and normal quarrels was nil even if they could escape their destinies.

Taking a breath to relax, Kagura smiled at her sister, admiring her bravery and strength of will, "Forever… Forever together with me and you, Yomi. Big sister, Yomi."

The rest of her visit was spent fixing the sheets on Yomi's bed, cleaning up the dishes she brought from home, and making sure her sister was comfortable before brushing her teeth and getting her ready for the night. Once she had that all taken care of, she rested next to her sister on her bed, hugging her close. For a splendid moment, they just lay there, content in each other's company. Yomi thought about the bright future the little one had to look forward to and forgot her worries and Kagura lost herself to the break in life's dealings.

Until… "Just tell me one thing: Today at the ministry, Chief Jinguuji was talking about the thing with Mei. Even though everybody wants to believe it was all Yomi's doing, that Yomi started all of it, I know it isn't true."

Yomi's eyes fluttered wide and her fingers twitched, scratching the keypad of her mobile that still lay under her palm. If this was the moment that Kagura asked her the right questions, even her revenge could be set and those who'd hurt her could be made to see.

"Yomi wouldn't kill out of complete hatred for someone. She's not like that." Unless Kagura was more concerned about that, "That's too much. They don't understand Yomi at all! No matter how much Yomi suffers, she wouldn't do wrong."

Her heartbeats pulsed through her entire body and ripped into her, burning her very soul. She lifted her finger up, remembering what the chief had instructed her about answering questions. Would Yomi do wrong in the face of so much anxiety?

Her father was slain…

Her family denounced her…

Nori didn't stay by her side…

Kagura…

She betrayed Yomi for another…

'The deep hatred that envelops your heart, it makes you the perfect candidate to assume this stone.'

Stricken by the shock of Kagura's words, she felt her finger tap the loudest drums against her phone she ever heard, the coupling beats ringing through her ears, laughing at the guilt she just then admitted. How would Kagura see her now? Everyone had turned from her, but Kagura stayed strong, but for the sake of lying to herself that Yomi could do no wrong. That's not what Yomi needed then; it wasn't at all what was needed to save her. They had all failed to see it. So blind. So simple-minded. And now she would be made to suffer more.

When Kagura heard the two taps, the first a distinct beat and the second a less than eager echo of the first, she swallowed hard, but her fears bubbled back to the surface. They had been answered. Everything that she assumed Yomi would be able to deny, she now admitted. Kagura could sense it even if she hadn't already figured out what Yomi just did. Yomi had murdered Mei in a vicious onslaught. She had hated Mei and assaulted her for such a purpose. And now, as Kagura looked up to reaffirm that she had heard right, that it wasn't just more bad judgement playing against her sister, Yomi didn't dare look at her.

Sliding out of bed, Kagura looked out at the starry night sky, "I need to use the restroom. I'll be back soon so you don't have to wait for me. You should go to sleep first."

She chanced a reassuring look at her sister, but already the tears streamed from her eyes and she quickly took to the door, running out of the room to escape the truth. She couldn't stay. She didn't want to believe it. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to see Yomi as a murderer. She refused to accept a Yomi that was a murderer. She just didn't know anymore.

Yomi screamed out for her sister to come back, to forgive, to save her, but there was little she could do now. Still, in her panic and frantic frenzy, she began texting on the mobile "sorry", her apologies for her ill deeds, though there was so much more to tell. If only her sister would listen and excuse her faults. She desperately needed someone to understand, to realise the truth behind the lies. Everyone had been asking the wrong questions and forcing her to answer. Yomi could not deny what she had done, but there was so much more. Why couldn't anyone see? Why couldn't Kagura understand? Why did she have to be alone?

"Do you fear your loneliness?" Mitogawa's voice returned to her.

Yomi struggled with her anger and despair.

"This is a stone of wishes. It can make yours into reality."

Yomi clutched her phone with all her strength, crying silent protests at having been made a stooge.

"It can relieve you of your sorrows and pains, free you from your fate."

Yomi's tears pooled endlessly, her heart knowing her time had come.

"It can even warrant you your other desires."

Yomi's struggling ceased as she realised their futility. There was nothing left for her, nothing left in her, but to accept the reality of it.

"There is no reason for you to be left in such a way. I can help you." Mitogawa added, his form now entering Yomi's room in a shower of butterflies, "This hurt that you feel; I can help you lift that burden."

With that, he revealed it, the filthy stone that she had seen on her cousin Mei. Dropping it into her left palm, he made her clutch it tightly, the evil energies releasing into her body. It burned her flesh, but in doing so, soothed the aches that had been there. The energy she expended began crawling back inside. She could feel her heart rate climbing and her breaths quickening. The scars that were on her body began to melt away as Mitogawa passed the stone over them and her muscles tensed back up, the atrophy that had been slowly seeping in dissipating as she felt her power return.

"How is it? Amazing, isn't it?" He asked, "In the end, you are most suited for this stone."

Yomi struggled and writhed, the stone's miasma burning at every fiber of her being and distorting her mind with horrid ideas. She felt her legs tense and squirm, having been revitalised by the Sesshouseki. Mitogawa's voiced noted that any of the pain she was feeling now was only due to her nerves and tendons reconstructing themselves, binding what had been fractured, mending what had been severed, returning function to what had been rendered useless.

"What should we fix up next? What should be made beautiful again? Your chest? Your back?"

Yomi choked, trying to scream, trying to growl her resistance to the stone, to show her indignation, but this only gave the boy more ammunition.

"Or maybe I should say," He began, sliding the stone from her breast to her throat, "Tell me where your true pain lies.'"

"… M-my… t-true… p-pain…" Yomi's mouth began to say, the closeness of the stone warping her mind of its scattered thoughts, plagued already by her panic.

Fragments of memories streamed before her, the schemes by Mei and her uncle Yuu whom had both desired to steal Yomi from her rightful place at her father's side, one day claiming the role of leadership in her family. She saw them for what they truly were, evils within her family that caused her beloved father to die an unnatural death. The rest of the family had been useless, too. They merely stood by and let it happen, cursing her life to misery.

"Tell me where your true hatred lies."

"M-my… true… h-hatred."

The chief and Kiri had abandoned her. Iwahata, the Nabuu Brothers, Kazuki, and all of the wretches at the Ministry of the Environment had abandoned her to suffer like this. She had done so much for them, stopped so much death and destruction and they show her their true colours when she no longer had the strength to react. Those louts who would use her as a tool. Those ingrates who discarded her once she was defeated. They needed to pay for their sins. They had to be held accountable for their mistakes if they were to recriminate and judge Yomi for hers.

Everyone on this planet hadn't the right to rejoice in their splendor while she lay at the mercy of evil. Why should they live out their peaceful lives when she was prisoner to the wants and desires of others? She had been an innocent girl, stripped of her loving family to serve as a slayer to an unwelcoming horde of negligents.

And then there was Kagura… How dare she turn away from her like that! After all Yomi had done, the many years caring for the girl as if her own daughter, taking the place of what Kagura lost, how had the girl repaid her? Kagura's skills as a slayer, what were they if not for the countless hours of training Yomi had given her, sacrificing her own time to be by her sister's side? Yomi had lost her entire family and received a hateful one, demanding and cold. Kagura had yet her father, but was given every afforded luxury, Yomi's company and protection, the attention of her own father, and the adoration and commitment of both families, the Ministry of the Environment, and even Master Michael. Why didn't Yomi deserve any of it? What had she done to deserve this plight now? Who were they to pass judgements on her for her mistakes? Just how many mistakes had they committed and forced Yomi to solve for them? When had she ever claimed anything for herself? No, the moment she began to think for herself, she was the enemy. The moment she made a human error, she was a monster. Not the rest of them, not Mei, not Kagura. No one needed to be there for Yomi, only Yomi was required to meet their demands.

"Right, it's those cretins that allowed you to suffer like this, isn't it? Come now, what do you hate?"

Yomi's lips took their final gasp of air before everything conscious went dark and all that remained was the revenge and seething rage and they curled into an empowered and hideous grin. Yomi was ready to embrace her newfound power, the power to change her fate, the power to make the world bow to her justice.

"Idiot." Kagura scolded herself, looking at her own mobile's background image, "I have to stand by her side. I have to believe in her. Yomi…"

Looking back, she saw the light in Yomi's room alight aglow of crimson, shaking the entire spiritual field. The power resonating from the light was immense, but more so, it was putrid and foul. Whatever it was, Yomi was at the center of it and Kagura needed to save her. She ran as fast as she could, but already she could sense the fleeting pulse of the energy. As she arrived before Yomi's room, everything was in disarray and reeked of jyaki. The windows had been shattered and the bed upon which Yomi had lain was twisted and burnt. As for her sister, Yomi was nowhere to be seen.

"Yomi? Yomi!"

…

次回、喰霊-零-:

悲劇裏－ひげきのうら－

GAREI -ZERO- episode 10

Translations:

残酷扉 － ざんこくのとびら－

Zankoku no tobira

Gateway to Cruelty

Kyuubi – The Nine-Tailed Fox

次回、喰霊-零-: 悲劇裏－ひげきのうら－

Jikai, Ga-Rei Zero: Higeki no ura

Next Time on Ga-Rei Zero: Behind the Tragedy

Afterword:

Yomi's soul embraced the Sesshouseki. Under its influence, Yomi would go on to brutally slay her uncle, Isayama Yuu, and lay siege to the rest of the Isayama clan. Standing above the wreck and ruin, Yomi became elated by destruction and sought more, her darkest musings drawing her ever closer to Mitogawa who sheparded her towards her next targets in the Ministries of Defence and the Environment. Facilitating a large scale supernatural attack, he scheduled the appearances of both ministrys' team, the Paranormal and Supernatural Countermeasures Divisions, along with their star members, the Tokusen Shikai and Kagura's group respectively. Yomi laid them all to waste, murdering a great number of agents and even causing the deaths of the entire Tokusen Shikai, including familiar members, Tohru and Natsuki who Yomi held accountable for her severe injuries after her latter bout with cousin Mei. She would then slay Sakuraba Kazuki before stalking her penultimate nemesis, Tsuchimiya Kagura. This confrontation would eventually lead to the death of Kagura's father, Tsuchimiya Garaku, a key event in Kagura's life and her turning point to becoming a powerful slayer. Yomi would kill one of the Nabuu twins, incapacitate both the chief, Jinguuji Ayame, and her assistant, Kiri, before making her final stand against Kagura, where her true essence broke free of the Sesshouseki for long enough to wish upon it, declaring that Kagura be freed from the tarnish and taint she brought her sibling. Kagura slayed Yomi, the moment forever engraving itself onto her soul.

Upon death, the last traces of Yomi's goodness departed for the afterlife, but her spiritual energies were so great that the Sesshouseki was able to wield them in resurrecting the slayer in the form of a spirit of Category A grade. With such a powerful weapon at his disposal, Mitogawa directed his mistress to the heart of Japan, its capitol of Tokyo, where the slumbering guardian demon, the Tengu, rested. Now a full-fledged evil spirit, Yomi had spiritual energies honed to summoning other creatures to her side and senses that allowed her to pinpoint the seals of the Tengu and eliminate them. Eventually, her plot began to falter and, seeing the growing darkness in Kagura's own heart, Mitogawa began to stray from his mistress, ultimately reclaiming her Sesshouseki after her defeat at the hands of Kagura and Nimura Kensuke.

However, the Kyuubi, itself, had other ideas. Using its other agent in Mitogawa, it precipitated a race for the collection of the various pieces of the Sesshouseki, culminating in its summoning by Kagura. The taint it brought to the earthly plane fulfilled the requirements needed to bring forth the Hyakki Yako, parading countless armies of evil spirits in an abominable cluster known as the Naraku. Yomi's soul was still kept in purgatory, held at a constant flux between the heaven she deserved and the hell that drew her in. This allowed her second rebirth as Isoyama Izumi following the Naraku's creation and set the stage for the world's end. Yomi's role as the Black Priestess would be fulfilled after the government powers again sided against her, this time costing her her love, Izuna Noriyuki. The Black Priestess and her opposite in the White Priestess, Kagura, met on the final battleground, with spiritual and living witnesses alike waiting on an outcome. It would come after a fatal blow to the Ga-rei Byakuei left Kagura likewise mortally wounded. As Yomi decended from her Kyuubi to offer the final ultimatum, her death, which would precipitate the end of existence, Kagura broke the cycle of death by offering her forgiveness and love even unto the end, this selfless act freeing Yomi from her darkness and allowing her passage into heaven. With Yomi finally laid to rest, the Sesshouseki seeds were replanted and the judgement of humanity postponed. Life continued as usual for Kagura and her friends. Thus ends the journey of Isayama Yomi.

The End

Translations:

Tengu – Heavenly Dogs, a type of yokai or demon in Japanese Shinto beliefs that can also be worshipped as guardians.

Kyuubi – The Nine-Tailed Fox

Hyakki Yako – Night Parade of One Hundred Demons

The Naraku – Japanese term for Hell.