Displayed in the Forest of Harmony was a battle that far transcended anything humans would ever see. A duel between yokai was a fight of physical and spiritual power. Such abilities from beings of the celestial realm would scorch the very foundations of the planet and burn the lights of many stars. 

But Yin and Yang were different. Special yokai with infinite spiritual power. Their battle was something that could possibly shake the foundations of the universe itself. And that very fight was happening—simply out of pathetic bickering between the two guardians.

While Yin and Yang were both evenly matched in spiritual power there were some significant differences between the two. There was Yin who was far more nimble than Yang. The masked boy moved around like paper in the wind—sweeping under the punches Yang would throw and delivering low blows whenever her guard was down. And then there was Yang who was far more physically stronger than Yin—the simple press of her knuckles had the power to incinerate the inside of the boy’s body, making him feel numb.

It was a contest of endurance and both were pushing each other to their limit. Jumping and bashing each other across the whole Forest of Harmony. Breaking down the gorgeous golden trees and leaving massive creators—the size of a meteor impact. Each blow from their attacks was like a nuclear bomb that made the fog disperse and the gray clouds in the sky split. 

“HAD ENOUGH YET!?”

Yang shouted as she slammed her powerful fist into Yin’s gut. The masked boy let out a painful gasp but quickly recovered as he wrapped his feet around his enemy’s neck and brought her to the ground. Yin then trapped Yang in an armbar, stretching the limits of how far her arm could bend. She screamed out in pain as Yin continued without mercy.

“YOU THINK THAT’S ALL I’VE GOT!? YOUR SUFFERING IS JUST BEGINNING—YOU FOOL!”

With her free arm, Yang punched the ground. The force of the punch created a powerful gust of wind which forcefully pushed Yin off of Yang. He flew in the air before landing on the top of one of the golden trees’ branches. Yang quickly spotted Yin and jumped over to him—her red eyes burning like unyielding fire.

Like a bull, she slammed into him and crushed him against the floor. Yin then tried to use his two fingers to pluck out Yang’s eyes but the girl quickly moved to the side and pinned her entire arm on his throat.

“GIVE UP!”

“N-NEVER!”

Yin’s entire body then turned black and then he phased through the ground.

“H-hey—”

Covered in shadows, Yin sprung up from the forest floor as if he was jumping from a pull and delivered a spin kick straight to the side of Yang’s face. The girl flew and slammed into three trees before landing on her feet. Like a deranged animal, Yang was snarling.

“STOP HITING MY FACE YOU JERK!”

Yang then removed the top of her kimono and showcased her black tank top. She plunged both her arms into the ground, which caused a strange ripple effect, making the very floor of the Forest of Harmony bounce up like a wave on an ocean. Yin was able to keep his balance quite steady, but that became the least of his worries when Yang raised her arms out of the ground to showcase a new challenge.

In place of her human-like arms were enormous muscular arms that belonged to a giant. They were made of dark muddy dirt, rock, and grass.

“GET READY! I’M GONNA TURN YOU INTO PASTE!!”

Yang charged at Yin like a wild gorilla—slamming down her massive fists around the forest. Yin’s body was cloaked over with thick darkness, along with that was the ability for him to phase through certain physical matter for a few seconds. Any moment Yang’s earth arms were close to hitting him, he summoned the shadows and went through them as if he did not exist.

This pattern of the tag-like game continued for a while until Yang finally decided to change his strategy. The masked girl smirked as she dug her left foot into the ground and kicked up a pillar of dirt which managed to blow Yin into the air after he phased through another attack. At that moment, Yin was tangible and the pillar of dirt was able to fire him up into the gray skies. 

“Oh!”

Yin tried to regain his composure, but Yang quickly took advantage of this weakness. Yang flew up above Yin and drove her massive fist right into the small stomach of her opponent. The masked boy could feel his insides be squashed like playdo as Yang barely held any of her strength back. Even the dirt arm that she used to punch Yin shattered like glass on impact. 

Once the hit was dealt, Yin fell back down to the floor at immense speed, creating a humungous dirt explosion. Yang proceeded to laugh like a mad woman as she softly floated back down to the forest.

“How’d you like that!? Now are you gonna apologize?”

The clouds from the explosion dispersed…but there was no Yin in the crater. All that was there was his mask.

“H-huh? Where did that little—”

An attack so fast that no one could even perceive when they were hit. An attack so precise that any normal enemy would be instantly vanquished. Yin wasted no time to use his mask as a decoy and hide behind the trees. His stomach was pulsating from the devastating damage he had taken previously, but he bared with it and continued with his counterattack.

Putting all his spiritual power into his palms he charged right at Yang’s back and delivered a strike directly into the center of her spine.

BOOM!

A shockwave that matched the force of the aftershock of TNT reverberated throughout the forest. Yang vomited out spit and some blood from her mouth as stumbled over. Yin then quickly grabbed the other dirt arm of Yang that she still had and used his other palm to strike at its armpit. The dirt arm dispersed into millions of pieces—raining down all the way to the other side of the forest. 

Weaponless, defenseless, and in immense pain—Yang was vulnerable to the next set of moves Yin had in store for her. The masked boy was ruthless as he proceeded to unleash rows upon rows of strikes on her body. Forcefully pushing Yang back and pinning her against the tree he delivered blow after blow as if she was a punching bag.

After the second hundredth strike, Yang finally retaliated by grabbing one of Yin’s arms and trapping him in a tight bear hug. She intended to squeeze the life out of him but the boy showed intense resilience as he tried to flex out her hold. In that moment Yin and Yang’s eyes were locked into one another.

All they could see was themselves. In truth, it was the first time they were really looking at each other’s faces. And that is when it came upon them…

The sudden sensation of familiarity.

And right after that was an image that played in both of their heads at the same time. In this image—Yin and Yang were together but as they usually were. They both had the flesh of a human and brown eyes that matched the earth. Yang had long dark brown hair and wore a pink kimono with flowers while Yin had short black hair while wearing a blue royal robe.

The two were sitting on top of a gorgeous green hill filled with dead flowers. The skies were dark and rain fell around them. But the two cared not for getting wet as they were staring deeply into each others eyes and embracing in a soft hug. 

Yang cupped the cheek of Yin while he softly caressed her chin. The two stared at each other with longing and comfort. Hope and desire. This was the feeling that all living beings of a soul would embrace in time—the feeling of love.

Then, like hungry animals, the two put their arms around each other and kissed. Their lips softly hugged each other while their tongues wrestled for dominance. This intense passion of love felt like an eternity, which they wished could last, but eventually, they both needed air. 

As they parted, both of their cheeks were flushed with a gentle pink and their eyes glistened like the stars of the night sky…

How true was their love…

“H-huh…?”

“Huh?”

Then reality returned to them. Yang and Yin remembered that they were still in the destroyed Forest of Harmony but there was one difference. The two were softly holding onto each other…and their lips were locked together.

The two spirits' faces turned completely red like the tomato on a farm and quickly separated. They took a few steps away from each other and turned their heads to the complete opposite side. Yin and Yang’s minds were racing a hundred miles per hour as they tried to make sense of the sudden turn of events that just transpired.

It was a kiss of love. A kiss that only those deeply infatuated with each other would do. And the image was more than just an image. Yin and Yang knew…the moment they saw the scene of them in the rain and holding to each other they knew…

“That was a…a memory…”

A memory of their time on earth. Their memories as humans. A memory that should not be but yet is.

A memory that held the lost story of their love…