Sato rested his back on a tree in the park, "Damn it. I can''t believe I just set Niji free."


    Sakura sighed, "Yeah, way to go bonehead."


    Sato rested his hand on his sword sheath realizing the blade was missing, "Hey! Where''d my sword go?!"


    Sakura sighed, "You lost your sword too? First, you set Niji free and now this. Today''s just not your day, Sato."


    Sato rubbed the back of his neck laughing. "Well, I guess since I don''t need to pose as a Warrior Bakemono anymore, it doesn''t really matter."


    Um, Sato..." Arashi started.


    Kenji came running up to Sato, "Sato! You''re back!"


    Sato stared at him for a minute, "Oh, what''s up, Kenji."


    "You''ve been gone for six months and all you have to say to me is, what''s up?!" Kenji shouted.


    "Who''s the loudmouth?" Arashi asked.


    "Oh right, you guys haven''t met before," Sato remembered. "Okay, guys this is my friend from middle school Keisuke Kenji. Kenji these are my new friends, Arashi, Ai, and Sakura."


    Kenji checked out Sakura, "Well this one is hot. Hey babe, you wanna go out sometime?"


    Sato sighed, "Kenji, please stop."


    Kenji laughed "Come on Sato. You can''t honestly tell me you''ve been around this chick for half a year and never even bothered to make a move on her."


    "Actually I can," Sato argued.


    Kenji shook his head, "I don''t believe this. What a shame, pal. What a shame."


    "You''re annoying," Arashi groaned.


    "You talkin'' to me punk?!" Kenji shouted.


    "Yeah. Got a problem with it?!" Arashi shouted back surrounding his claws in orange flames.


    Kenji backed up, "Whoa! Damn Sato, you have one freaky friend. I''ll see you later!" Kenji ran off.


    Arashi sweatdropped, "He didn''t notice my bat wings...?"


    Sato stared down the road, "Hey guys. Before we take care of the Niji problem. Can I go see my mom? Kenji reminded me how long I''ve been gone. And I really wanna let her know I''m okay."


    Sakura nodded, "Of course, Sato. And we''ll even come with you. You got to meet my parents already and Ai''s too. So I think it''s about time we met yours."


    Sato sweatdropped, "You don''t have to do that. It''s fine really."


    Ai cheered, "Yay! We get to go see big brother''s house! Can we sleep over, big brother?"


    Sato sweat drops larger, "Sleep over? We have to stop Niji and save the world."


    "But do we have to do it now?" Ai pouted.


    Sato sighed, "Just come on."


    Once they all got to Sato''s house. Sato was greeted by a big hug from his teary-eyed black haired mother. "Satoshi, my son! I''m so glad you''re back. Where have you been all this time?"


    "I was trapped inside the Forbidden Book," Sato answered hugging his mother back.


    She gasped as the hug ended, "You don''t mean the Forbidden Book with the Bakemono, do you?"


    Sato nodded, "Yeah, that''s the one. But how do you know about it Mom?"


    Sato''s mom stared out the window, "I didn''t wanna tell you this until you were older, but I guess I have no choice now. You see, your father didn''t actually die thirteen years ago. In order to help King Akio keep a handle on the Forbidden Book they created together, he sealed himself inside it as well. Before all of the Bakemono were sealed inside, however. King Akio had erased all of the human''s memories of Bakemono. Everyone''s except mine and the keeper of the Forbidden Book."


    "My school librarian," Sato realized who the keeper was.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    She nodded, "Yes, but he just assumed that role as a cover-up. He, however, unlike me, hated Bakemono."


    "So then, you''re a human and you don''t hate Bakemono?" Arashi questioned confused.


    Sato''s mom smiled brightly, "Of course I don''t. I don''t hate all of them anyway. But there are some bad Bakemono out there. Just like there are some bad humans. Now those are who I hate. Oh silly me I forgot introductions. I am Ms. Yamagata."


    "I''m Sakura, Strength Bakemono. Nice to meet you, Ms. Yamagata." Sakura shook her hand.


    Ai beamed, I''m Ai, Magic Bakemono! Hello!"


    Arashi grinned a little, "My name is Arashi, Fire-Bat Bakemono."


    "Oh really? How''s Ryo doing these days?" Sato''s mom questioned.


    "He''s dead," Arashi said lowly.


    "Oh I''m sorry Arashi," Sato''s mom apologized


    Arashi shook his head, "Don''t apologize, it''s fine."


    "Mom? How come you know Arashi''s Dad''s name?" Sato wondered.


    "Oh. Hiroshi, your father, was actually very good friends with Ryo and King Akio. And Shun as well." Sato''s mom explained. "In fact..." She was interrupted when Niji suddenly appeared and grabbed Ai.


    "Help!" Ai screamed.


    "Ai!" Sato shouted. "Put her down Niji!"


    Niji leered at Sato, "No can do. I have no interest in you anymore Yamagata Satoshi. So I''ll be going now."


    "No!" Sato ran towards Niji while he began to disappear in his black aura. Sato jumped for him a second too late. ''''Damn it! Guys, let''s go save Ai, quick!"


    "Well," Sakura started. "Arashi and I will go. But are you sure you want to?"


    Sato nodded, "Of course! Why wouldn''t I be?"


    "Because your powers are gone," Arashi said rather quickly. "You''re not in the Forbidden Book anymore. And so you''re no longer the Illustrator."


    Sato lowered his head, "You''re right." The purple-haired teen realized.


    "It''s up to you, Sato," Sakura informed him. "We just don''t want you getting yourself killed."


    Sato didn''t answer with his head still lowered. Sakura and Arashi turned to each other and nodded. They both ran out the door. "So," Arashi began. "Where do you think Niji went?"


    Sakura hesitated for a minute until she noticed a trail of black aura. "He''s leaving a trail for us. Let''s follow it."


    "How convenient. And suspicious," The Fire-Bat Bakemono noticed.


    Sakura nodded, "Maybe, but it''s our only lead."


    When Sakura and Arashi reached the end of the trail, Sakura was immediately cut up by slices of wind. "Sakura!" Arashi yelled. Arashi ran up to Sakura, "Sakura! Are you okay? She''s...stopped breathing. He turned his head towards the end of the trail to see Yoshi with his usual murderer''s grin. "Yoshi," He grunted.


    Yoshi''s grin became wilder, "Arashi. What a wonderful surprise. We never got to finish our fight, last time. Although, I guess it doesn''t matter because you don''t even have what it takes to kill! You couldn''t kill me last time after all."


    Arashi clenched his fists, "That''s where you''re wrong Yoshi. You''re right when you said I couldn''t kill you before. However, don''t compare that Arashi with the one standing before you right now. You killed one of my friends. And your master has kidnapped another one of my friends. So don''t think I won''t kill the hell out of you both! No one messes with my friends and gets away with it!"


    He didn''t want to. But Arashi wouldn''t stand for someone who could so casually murder someone. Even more so when that someone happened to be one of his friends. He didn''t want to have to stain his hands and that''s why he wasn''t ever able to kill before. But now he knew his hands were already stained, so what was one more life? He would feel sorry for the people who care about Yoshi and maybe even a little sorry for Yoshi himself. But he was still going to kill him.


    A veil of black fire began to surround Arashi. Yoshi smirked, "This should be more fun than I thought. But you don''t think you''re the only one capable of using a Darkness Variation of your power, do you now?" Black wind began forming around Yoshi. "I can use Dark Wind! Now we can finally go all out!"


    Arashi wasn''t interested in what Yoshi had to say and released a blast of Dark Fire. Yoshi countered by shooting out a blast of his Dark Wind. Both of the attacks collided blowing each other up in the process. The two repeated launching their respective attacks at each other furiously causing a billow of smoke to appear in the space between them.


    Arashi scowled, "No way! My attacks should''ve completely incinerated yours."


    Yoshi grinned, "Silly Arashi. That''s only if it''s attacking anything other than another Darkness Power. But since it collided with my Dark Wind, they both blew each other up." He makes a tsk tsk sound while waving his finger. "Learn your trivia, young one."


    Arashi grunted, "I don''t give a damn! I''m still gonna kill you!" Arashi sent out a wave of black fire. It surged all around the area.


    Yoshi flew up into the sky, "Sure, our powers are equal, but you and I aren''t! You see the difference between us is, I have mastered my powers!" Yoshi shot out a blast of black wind from the palm of his hand. The attack landed a direct hit on Arashi causing him to fall on his back and choke.


    "Why...why can''t I breathe?" He choked.


    Yoshi gave off a maniacal laugh, "Very well. Allow me to explain before you die. You know how your Dark Fire doesn''t just burn, it incinerates? Well, my Dark Wind is kind of similar, since it doesn''t just blow away, it suffocates."


    "Big whoop," Arashi slowly got up, still struggling to breathe. "All I have to do is dodge all of your attacks."


    Yoshi smirked, "You would think. But that''s not the case. I guess I forgot to mention that it can suffocate anything even the oxygen around you."


    Arashi gasped, "No way! Damn it. This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought. But I can''t lose!"


    Meanwhile, Sato was eating dinner with his mom when she looked up from her plate. "Satoshi. Are you sure you don''t wanna help your friends?"


    Sato sighed, "What can I do? I don''t have any powers anymore." He put his head down, "I''m useless."


    His mom got up from her seat, "Well if that''s what you really believe, okay. But I doubt you knew about your powers when first entered into the Forbidden Book."


    "How would you know?" Sato mumbled.


    "You don''t think your friends were the first to visit me, do you?" She said as she opened the guest room door revealing Bunka, Hibiki, and Nori."


    "What are you guys doing in my house?!" Sato shouted.


    "They came to visit me," Sato''s mom answered for them. "All of them have told me how resourceful and observant you are. It''s up to you whether you believe you can use these talents of yours to help your friends and stop Niji."