The Mezame Angel Ena is somewhere in the Disciple World, unknown to most. She was at the ruins of an ancient castle.

  She looks around.

  “Darkness still lingers here. As I’m an angel, it doesn’t affect me. However, I understand why the villages nearby are terrified of this place.”

  Ena pulls out her diary.

  “Soul always used to tell me that having a diary was childish and non-angel-like.”

  She chuckles.

  “I miss you, Soul.”

  Yakone is endlessly sending water techniques towards Kuragami. Although he does well to dodge it, for some reason, he won't fight back.

  "Yakone!"

  Kuragami is struggling to catch his breath while dodging.

  "Stop this, wouldn't it be better if we-"

  He just about dodged another water technique.

  "Worked together?!"

  "Better for the both of us? Or better for just me!"

  "What!"

  Yakone sprints towards Kuragami. He swings a punch, which Kuragami dodges. Kuragami then wall hops off a tree next to him and spins, kicking Yakone in the face. He immediately regrets it.

  "Oh shit! My bad, Yakone!"

  Yakone lets out a yell of anger. Veins turn visible on his head. The glistening water aura around him takes a drastic rise. A whirlpool starts to form all around them.

  "Why are you so angry?"

  With quick thinking, Kuragami jumps up to a nearby tree.

  The whirlpool becomes even stronger. The trees can't hold on any longer.

  Kuragami lays his hand on a tree. Ice conjures from his fingertips and then quickly freezes the whole tree.

  "You always find a solution."

  Yakone hops on the branch that Kuragami is on. He goes for a right kick to his ribs. Kuragami lifts his left leg to block it. With that same leg, he kicks to the chest, which Yakone catches with both hands; however, Kuragami uses that opportunity to flip backwards, making distance.

  "Yakone, just talk to me. What’s wrong?!"

  They pause for a second. Yakone yells once more. He goes for a right punch. It gets blocked, so he instantly goes for a left one. That gets blocked, too.

  Kuragami punches his face, then his body. With one jump, he kicks his right rib and then his left. He raises his aura and does one more kick to his chest, kicking him off the branch. Kuragami then uses his aura to dash on top of him to finally do one aura-powered kick, forcing Yakone to crash into his own whirlpool.

  The whirlpool stops whileYakone is all soaked. Kuragami lands next to him.

  "I heard your mission didn't go well. Kiyo told me you and the twins missed the after party to go train. You’re angry because of that, aren’t you? But you passed, you’re here now. What’s there to worry about?"

  Yakone slowly stands up. He lightly chuckles.

  "You somehow always know what somebody's feeling. But even when you know, you never understand."

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  "So tell them me. Tell me so I can understand!"

  "Hasn't this whole fight told you enough?! About how I feel?! How I've felt since we were kids?!"

  "Since we were kids?"

  "The twins, they're strong in their way. They got their synchronized moves with each other. Together they're strong."

  "Yeah? And?"

  "Kiyoko is good up close and afar. She also became a hybrid. She’s gifted."

  “Yeah, there aren’t many like her.”

  “Then there’s you, Yuma,”

  Yakone says this next name with venom in his voice.

  “Hasake!”

  “And?”

  "What do I have?! What do I contribute to this world?! I exist for nothing!"

  "That's not true, you're my friend."

  "I'm your friend?!"

  Yakone laughs maniacally.

  "I say amazing things about the twins and Kiyoko, and you immediately agree. And the best thing about me is being your friend?!"

  "Yakone..."

  "I DON'T WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND, KURAGAMI! I WANT TO BE STRONG! I'm weak and you know it, but you never say. I'm a joke. A disciple with nothing to follow. Maybe that’s why Kiyoko prefers you."

  "You're not weak, Yakone."

  "And yet you still lie to my face!"

  Yakone runs towards Kuragami viciously. He jumps in the air and does three kicks. Kuragami effortlessly blocks the first two and doges the last. Kuragami punches him twice and kicks him away. Yakone uses his aura to throw water bombs at him. Kuragami immediately reacts and makes ice grow from the ground and blocks all of them.

  Kuragami looks worried.

  "Why do I feel like I’m understanding you more?"

  Kuragami raises his aura in his right arm. He creates his blessed arm.

  “I don’t want to understand.”

  Yakone dashes towards him and tries to punch him, but Kuragami blocks with Blessed Arm and smacks him away.

  Yakone's voice is breaking. Tears of anger fills his eyes.

  "I'll break that arm, and prove to myself that I ain't weak!"

  Yakone raises his aura to its peak. Cracks on the ground start to form as the area around them rumbles.

  "Water Technique: Deep Abyss!"

  "Wait Yakone, chill!"

  Kuragami wasn’t worried about himself. Deep Abyss is a dangerous water technique that forces you to generate more aura than you can handle. The worst that has happened to someone who used it, their whole flow of aura got disturbed. The outcome of using Deep Abyss is unpredictable. Although it isn’t official, Deep Abyss being forbidden is an unwritten rule.

  His aura attracts and grows water from the air. The water slowly becomes bigger and bigger. The pressure slowly becomes too much for his body to handle.

  "He's willing to go this far. Yakone, I got your answer now. And I think I’ve had it all along.”

  Kuragami slams his Blessed Arm to the ground, covering his whole body from Yakone.

  "This is it, Kuragami, SHOW ME YOUR PURPOSE!"

  He releases the technique towards Kuragami. The water viciously flows and races towards him. It is destroying everything around them. The Blessed Arm starts glistening.

  Kuragami is holding on as strongly as he can.

  A group of Shorai have a camp on the island. They made a campfire and are all sitting on logs.

  Their lookout is on a tree, making sure the area is safe. She sees something coming from a distance. She jumps from tree to tree to get closer to it.

  “What in the world?!”

  She rushes back to her group. There is clear panic on her face.

  “We need to go!”

  She quickly points in the direction of the abyss.

  “There’s a tsunami, a flood? There’s a lot of water coming our way, we've got no time, we need to go now!”

  The group panics and runs off.

  Some groups get away, some get caught up in it.

  Kuragami is waiting for an opening.

  Aura flies in Yakone’s bracelet.

  "Come on, how long is this gonna go for?"

  The abyss starts to weaken. Yakone stays still.

  "Now!"

  Kuragami uses the weight of Blessed Arm to turn airborne. Immediately after the arm evaporates. As he’s about to land in the water, he generates ice in the abyss so he can slide towards Yakone. With the little stamina he has left, he raises the aura in his right hand and dips it into the abyss. While sliding, he powers up his aura and uses it to instantly freeze the whole thing.

  The impact of the freezing causes many Shorai to be eliminated by Kuragami. Their aura flies towards his bracelet.

  Kuragami then absorbs some of the ice's aura and powers it up in his fist. As he reaches a stunned Yakone, he does a fight-ending punch, shattering all the ice.

  Yakone is on the floor while Kuragami stands above him. There are small ice shards constantly but silently falling around them.

  Tears start to cover Yakone's eyes.

  "I'll ask you one more time, Kuragami. Am I weak?"

  Kuragami stands there silently for a moment. He lets off a deep sigh.

  "Yeah. You are."

  Although tears are in his eyes, Yakone still chuckles.

  "I knew it."

  His bracelet makes him teleport away, and his aura enters Kuragami's bracelet.

  Kuragami looks at his bracelet.

  "Seems like his technique caught a couple of other people. A lot, in fact, I got lucky."

  He then thinks of Yakone.

  "Was it luck, or was I just stronger?"

  Hidden on a mountain top nearby, Kiyoko and the twins were watching.

  The twins look at each other.

  “What will we do if he senses us here?”

  “I don’t know. Kuragami is way too strong now. Our plan to bring Yakone with us is now squashed thanks to him.”

  “He won’t sense us.”

  The twins look at Kiyoko, confused. The tone of her voice is serious.

  “We trained so long for this. We’re just gonna have to do the plan without Yakone.”

  The twins smile. They both talk in unison.

  “Yeah!”

  Kiyoko takes one more look at Kuragami.

  “Although we’re friends, Kuragami, you’re a Prodigy Disciple. You’re the ticket to our victory.”