Samon was the first one to lunge, spear in hand. You flipped over his spear right into Kiji's attack. You dodged his (idk what they're called. Those bladed Frisbee looking things.) They landed with a solid thump in the concrete wall. Kenshiro came at you at the same time as Hajime. While Kenshiro sent his whip after you, Hajime attempted to grab you. The whip caught one of your arms while Hajime managed to get a hold of your other arm. "Got 'cha." Said Hajime as you struggled. You stopped moving. Suddenly your body disappeared. Hajime was now holding onto nothing and Kenshiro's whip fell to the ground. "Wha-" Kenshiro suddenly fell down, knocked out cold. The supervisors looked at where you should be, though you weren't there. They looked around. They heard footsteps behind them. They looked behind them and saw nothing. There were leaves rustling to their left. Once again nothing. You suddenly landed on top of Samon, knocking him down. You flipped off of him and landed on your feet. Hajime and Kiji ran at you at the same time. You slid under Hajime's legs and kicked him where the sun doesn't shine. He fell to the ground. You felt yourself slipping away, your years of training just begging to kick in and take over. You fought to keep control. Kiji tried to get you by jumping suddenly in front of you. You elbowed him in the stomach, avoiding hitting anything too important as to not hurt him too badly. You stood in the training ground, surrounded by the supervisors. Samon started to laugh from his spot on the ground, "She beat you Hajime." Said Samon smiling. Hajime, who was still clutching his... yeah... glared at him, "Don't make me come over there monkey." He said in an intimidating voice. Samon surrendered and you walked over to him, helping him up. Uno came from where he was sitting on the bench and gave you a high five, "That was impressive! You even beat the gorilla!" "What did you call me you little (bleep)?" Hajime said rising from where he was. "Nothing, nothing." Assured Uno quickly, sweat-dropping. Upa walked up to you, his usually stoic face pulled into a slightly surprised expression. "That... was amazing. But why did you look troubled? Your face looked weird while you were fighting." You sighed, "I was trying to hold back. If I let go completely I'll hurt someone." He 'oooh'ed. For some reason he looked slightly sad. You cocked your head to the side, "Now your face looks weird." He sighed, "You were going easy on me all this time." He said, his head slightly drooping. For some reason, the thought of him being sad made you sad. "No- well yes, but-" you stopped talking to take a hold of his hands. You didn't know why you did, but oh well, "I didn't want to hurt you. I... care about you. A lot. If I don't hold back, you might end up getting hurt." "I don't care. I can deal with being hurt." You shook your head, "I'd end up... I'd end up killing you." You said, looking down. Even though you willed it away, thoughts of Upa lying dead on the floor because of you crossed your mind. You shivered. Upa realized how much you worried about that. You looked... mortified. You felt him let go of one of your hands. He gently cupped your cheek, making you look at him, "I understand." He said simply, making you smile. He opened his mouth to say something else, but he was interrupted by Uno, "Oh come on! How did HE get a girlfriend?!" "I'm not his-" You were interrupted by and argument sprouting between Trois, Uno, and Honey about who you would choose. You sighed, giving up. Suddenly the lights shut off. A confused murmur spread across the room. The door slammed shut causing Uno to let out a girly scream. Your heart dropped. You looked at Upa. He mouthed something to you. (Shen?) You nodded, the familiar aura filling your sense. "Everyone get behind me. Get away from the door." You demanded. "(y/n) your efforts are appreciated but I'll take it from here-" Kiji's speech was cut off as the door suddenly was thrown off of its hinges. Liang was in the line of fire. You quickly jumped from where you were standing and tackled Liang to the ground. The door managed to catch the tip of your shoulder. You felt it being thrown out of place, hearing the loud 'pop' it made. You suppressed a yell of pain as you got into a defensive stance. You used your qi to push everyone behind you. Hajime, who had recovered from your strike, stood up after he was safely behind you. He put a hand on your shoulder. You let out a hiss of pain. He looked at where he had placed his hand to see that was out of place. "(Y/n), you need to get to an infirmary-" "Not now." He was about to protest but the room seem to go silent as a figure approached the group. Despite them not being avid qi-gong users, everyone could feel his qi. It radiated hate and malice. They backed away as he approached, the only ones remaining being you and Upa. "(Y/n) get back here." Demanded Samon. You shook your head, grimacing as your shoulder sent another jolt of pain through your body. One light flickered on, illuminating Shen and the area around him like a terrible spotlight. He stopped in the middle of it and bowed with an eerie smile plastered on his face. "Shen." You growled as he made eye contact with you. He laughed, "(y/n). How wonderful to see you again. I see you made some new friends. How nice~" "You stay away from them." You said, voice turning sour. He let out another shriek of laughter, "Did you really think you could protect them? After all you've done do you think you could do anything right?" "At least I'm not working for that lying bastard." Shen put a hand over his mouth, feigning surprise, "Lying bastard? You mean the man that rescued you from that institution? The man who cultivated your power? The man who RAISED you?" Everyone looked on in shock as you two continued to talk. "That man did not raise me." "Then who did, our parents?" he said, cocking his head to the side as if awaiting an answer. He widened his eyes as he imitated realization, "Oh wait. That's right. They threw you away like the trash you are. You didn't deserve to be chosen by Xieie. You didn't deserve to have your powe-" "And you did? They loved you and cared for you. You didn't want to work for it. I did. That's why I'm able to do the things I'm able to do. You can't just do nothing and expect things to be handed to you. You threw away your happy ending because you were too lazy to work for it. Just because you lost yours doesn't give you the right to take away mine." Shen seemed to be fazed by your accusations for a second, but he quickly recovered. "Well you-" "No. You listen to me. After I got out of Chénmò de shāshǒu I realized the value in life. I saw that what I had done was wrong. I made amends. I made friends." You said, putting your hand on Upa's shoulder. "You have no idea how wonderful this is. There's no one to boss you around and you get to decide what to do. You don't have to hurt anyone. You don't have to hurt." He narrowed his eyes at you, opening his mouth to speak. You interrupted him again, "You're just like me. You're on the same path as me. It's not too late to stop." He laughed, "That train left the station long ago." The room went silent as you contemplated what to say next. You pointed at Liang and Qi and motioned them over. They were hesitant but walked forward nonetheless. "These are my friends. Upa, Liang, and Qi. They were all forced into working for Hachiman. They all managed to get out of it. People aren't what you've worked them up to be. While there are some that aren't good, many are. They're empathetic and caring. We all know what they did, but yet we love them all the same. They're treated like everyone else. They've left that behind. They're happy now." You paused for a second, letting your eyes drift back to him, giving him a warm smile, "You could be happy too. I was deeper than you when I got out. You can leave. While it's true that you can never get rid of it 100%, it's so much better than living like you are now." The malice in his face had dropped, replaced by uncertainty. You began walking towards him. "Xieie will come after you just like he's coming after me. But we'll protect you. And if we can't-" you made eye contact with him, "We'll die trying." He looked down at the floor, "There is no way you could forgive me for what I've done. I've killed people. I've made them suffer. I-" You cut him off with a hug, ignoring your shoulder's protests. The tension in the room was thick as everyone waited for his reaction. You felt warm droplets on your shoulder. He held you close as he sobbed, whispering 'I'm sorry' over and over again. You assured him that it was okay. After his sobs quieted down to quiet sniffles, you pulled away. Even though you were older than him, he had grown to be at least a head taller than you. You reached up and whipped the tears from his face. You scanned his face. He still had his mask on. You reached up and carefully took it off. You smiled, "There. Now you're like me." He chuckled, "I have a lot to do before I'm like you sis." "Well you're on the right track." He let go of you, looking bashfully the crowd of people that were his enemy just a few minutes ago. He held out his wrist together. Hajime got up and quickly cuffed his hands. Before he was taken away, he looked at you one last time, "Sorry for hurting your shoulder." You chuckled, "Tis but a scratch." He laughed. But it wasn't like the one from before. It wasn't filled with hate and malice. It was a happy one. He didn't struggle as they took him away.

Another post late in the day. O well. I hope that you all enjoyed and see you in the next chapter! So YEET