You let out another sigh through Suguro's and Kamiki's bickering. Three hours? Yukio you bitch. The lights suddenly went out, encasing you all in darkness.

"What's that?" Shima asked while Shiemi let out a quiet shriek. Startled, Rin moved.

"Ouch! I dropped the Bariyon on my foot!" He exclaimed, holding it. You gently picked it up and placed it on the floor.

"Wh-what the...? Did he turn off the lights, too?" Suguro wondered.

"No way..." Konekomaru gasped.

"Is it a blackout?" Kamiki asked. You looked out the windows of the room.

"No," you replied, "There're lights outside the window."

"You mean the blackout's just inside this building?" Rin asked.

"Seems like it," you replied.

"I'm going outside," Shima said, standing up and walking away.

"Shima, be careful, okay?" Konekomaru called. Shima let out nervous laughs, finding the wall for orientation. You looked around. You could still see pretty well.

"Hey, these things give me a thrill," he said as he got to the door. "Like a real like Test of Courage..." He opened it, then quickly closed it. Your senses prickled.

"What's this? Am I sleep-deprived? I just felt something..."
You took off from your spot and grabbed him, pulling it away from the door before an arm smashed through the glass. Shima yelped and stumbled over to the others while you stayed standing. The ghoul peeked its head inside and everyone let out gasps. After smashing the door in, the ghoul stepped inside the room. Its body had healed from the burns you gave it. Everyone stood up.

"The ghoul from yesterday!" Kamiki exclaimed.

"I thought there was a demon-warding charm in effect?" Konekomaru exclaimed.

"Apparently not strong enough," you replied. The one face on the ghoul, which previously wasn't there, exploded open, sending a bunch of bodily fluid flying. You managed to dodge being splashed by it, but the others weren't so lucky. The face that appeared reminded you of the flower demon in Shiemi's garden.

"Y/n-san!" You heard Shiemi call. "Get back!" You jumped back to the group. Nee sprouted out Uma-uma, its wood shielding you from the demon.

"A-amazing..." Rin stuttered out. You looked at it.

"Thank you, Nee!"
You walked up to the wood and looked through it. You could see the demon split in half, falling to the floor. Huh? The one half became a whole demon. It then started destroying the wood towards you. You lost track of the other half.

"It's coming this way!" Shima exclaimed.

"Dammit!" Rin cursed, "For supposedly being dead, you're pretty lively!"

"Ghouls are way more active in the dark," Suguro said. The dark? You looked around at the shut off lights. Was this preemptive? You all heard Shiemi cough lightly, falling to her knees.

"What's the matter, Shiemi?" Rin asked.

"I'm feeling... dizzy..." she replied. Then the others all followed suit. Except Rin.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Rin asked, looking at all of them.

"It's cause you were hit with the ghoul's bodily fluids," you explained.

"Doesn't it bother you at all?" Kamiki asked. You glanced at her.

"Once Moriyama loses all strength, this barricade will vanish," Suguro said, "And if that happens, it's all over." You drew your sword.

"I'll draw it away from here," you said, "Once the coast is clear, you guys find a way out of here."

"Huh?! Are you crazy?!" Suguro exclaimed. You looked at them.

"It's fine. I've done this before."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'VE DONE THIS BEFORE?!"

"I'll go with you," Rin said, joining you at the front.

"Hey! Wait a second you two!"
You two began to crawl through the wood with the others' exclaims falling on deaf ears. You two spotted the demon and the demon spotted you.

"I'm one of the bastards you're after, right?" Rin said from your side. "Come get me!" You two ran and it followed you. It smashed its way out into the hallway and you two ran.

"If we can get the lights on, it'll lose power," Rin said.

"So who's going to turn on the lights then?" You asked. He looked at you.

"Let's both do it."
You nodded.

"I'll slow it." You suddenly switched directions and rolled, taking out two of the demon's legs. It stumbled into the wall. You ran, faster than before, and grabbed Rin, hauling him behind you.

"Geez! How fast can you run?!" He exclaimed, barely keeping up.

"As fast as necessary," you replied. You dragged him all the way down to the Machine Room. The two of you slowed to a walk. It was also dark down there as well. You found the power grid and stood in front of it.

"The switches are flipped," you said, "Someone manually did this." You reached out your hand to flip them, but Rin screaming drew your attention. The ghoul's abnormally long tongue wrapped around him and threw him across the walkway.

"Rin!" You exclaimed. You stabbed your sword through it and set it ablaze in red flames. The thing screeched in pain, but still managed to throw Rin to the bottom area of the room. It jumped, still on fire, over him.

"You little--!" You ran after it.

"Don't mess with me, dammit!!" Rin's blue flames ignited, halting you. The ghoul also took a safe distance away from him.

"That's right, I just wanted to see those flames," a voice spoke. Recognizing it, you quickly jumped down to the bottom in front of Rin. "Those blue flames..." Rin was also looking up at the source of the voice.

"So you're the one who..." Rin trailed off.

"Igor Neuhaus," you said, expression turning into a snarl.

"Since you're unwilling to use your 'power' in front of others, I took this chance you lure you away, Rin Okumura..." Neuhaus said, "Son of Satan!" Rin stood, his flames still lit.

"How did you find out?" He asked, "Why would a teacher...?" Neuhaus smirked.

"You were the one behind both attacks," you spoke, "It was obvious."

"Actually yes," Neuhaus replied, "Never mind that, I want to see more of that 'power'!" You put your arm in front of Rin to keep him from moving.

"Wait," you said, "Don't do anything rash." Neuhaus clicked his tongue.

"I will admit, I didn't expect a nuisance like you to disrupt so much," he said, "You're a good impulse control."

"Thank you," you replied, "I pride myself on not allowing Rin to lose control." You grabbed your sword and threw it. The blade sunk into the ghoul's neck. You snapped your fingers with a spark of red. The thing combusted into red flames. Neuhaus was caught off guard. The ghoul burned to the ground.

"Rin! Turn on the lights!" You exclaimed. He seemed to realize he wasn't doing anything and ran up the steps. You looked back up and saw Igor gone. Tch. He got away. When Rin pulled the switches, all of the lights turned back on. You grabbed your sword and sheathed it, jumping back up to where Rin was.

"Let's go!" You grabbed his wrist and ran out of the room with him stumbling behind you. You and Rin made it back to the room where the others were.

"Hey! Was there another ghoul that stayed behind here?" He asked as you two slid into the room. Everyone just deadpanned at you two.

"Yo-you... what about the other one?" Suguro asked, obviously out of his mind.

"We handled it," you replied smoothly, "Did you get the other one? Nice job." You moved out of the way when Suguro came launching forward, knocking Rin to the ground.

"What's wrong with you?! Do you want to get killed?!"

"Ho-hold up! You're the one trying to kill me now!" Rin rolled before Suguro could stomp him into the ground. You laughed lightly, watching the two converse.

"Now, now!" You interfered, pulling Suguro away from Rin. "I think he gets the point, Suguro."

"And what about you, huh?! You're just as impulsive as him!"

"Huh?! I may be impulsive, but at least I think, you loser!"

Ja ne!

{Ruby Red}