“Hideki-kun!” Suu shouted, as she watched Hideki flung into the garbage.  From the corner of her eye, she saw a glint of light on metal as a chain was swung at her, but before it could strike her, a veil of sheer white fabric fluttered in front of her like a shield.  The chain was deflected off of the gauzy material as though it were steel.  Suu looked up at the figure of the faintly glowing woman who arched over her, and smiled softly, saying, “Thank you, Shamhat…”

The ‘Kazuo’ that they had been talking to, the one who screamed and sobbed and seemed content with his chains, suddenly sat up on his knees.  He lifted his arms, ripping the chains from their anchors almost effortlessly, before slinging one of the chains to strike himself across his own back.  He cried out in pain, as black blood splashed across the wall behind him, painting the surface in a shade so dark that no light could escape it.  The seemingly impossible depth of the color gave way to the shapes of small, yellow-eyed demons that began to crawl out of it, like they were coming out of a hole.

“What the hell?” Hideki asked as he sat up, touching his chest.  His shirt had been ripped open, and a bloody gash opened across his chest.  He suddenly felt hands on his back, before he was lifted and placed on his feet.  When he looked back, he saw a smoky, shadowy figure over him, tilting its featureless face to look toward him.  Hideki smirked a bit and said, “We’re going to have to work on your timing, Legion.”

“That thing we’ve been talking to all of this time is Takahashi-kun’s shadow,” Fumi said as she knelt next to the real Kazuo in the closet.  She reached up toward Kazuo’s face, to reach behind him and untie his gag, but he began to scream and shake his head.  Fumi glared sharply at him and said, “Calm down, I’m trying to help you!”

Kazuo shook his head violently, before looking up past Fumi’s shoulder.  She only barely realized what he was trying to do before a chain struck the door frame just inches above her head, splintering the rotten wood and showering it down around her.

“Augh!” Fumi cried out, before looking to the others, “Can you get him under control while I untie the real one?!”

“Under control?!” Suu yelped, “How?!”

“I don’t know, you’re the one with a glowing avatar!” shouted Fumi.

Hideki slowly exhaled, and lifted his hand up.  Seemingly sensing his silent request, Legion lowered one of its bleary arms, holding a long black katana in its grasp.  It opened its hand, and while its own sword remained aloft, a copy of the black blade fell and landed in Hideki’s hand.

“We’ve got a fight on our hands,” said Hideki, “Suu-chan, if this is too hard on you…”

Suu looked toward Hideki.  She stiffened her posture, before holding out her arm toward him.  A sheer white scarf flowed from Shamhat and coiled down Suu’s arm, before flowing off to brush across Hideki’s chest.  With a shine of white light, the bleeding gash that marred him began to close.

“I’ll support you,” said Suu, “Just be careful…”

As the small, dark blue demons crawled from the void made of Shadow Kazuo’s black blood, they began to climb the walls, scaling them with their sharp claws.  One of them looked back and hissed, before leaping off the wall toward Hideki.  With a quick slash, they were split in twain, evaporating in curls of smoke in the air, and Hideki spun his sword around to hold at the ready once more.

“When I fought Suu-chan’s shadow, I never actually managed to land a hit on her,” said Hideki as he and Legion slashed in unison, taking down another leaping demon; “Suu-chan was the one who took her down.  I’m a little hesitant to attack Kazuo-kun’s shadow directly, not knowing what it’ll do to him.”

Shadow Kazuo swung another chain to lash himself across the back as he screamed out, a splash of blood opening up and painting the way for more demons to crawl out.

“He’s hurting himself plenty,” said Suu, “But I’m as concerned as you…”

Fumi struggled with the real Kazuo for a moment before finally managing to get his gag untied.  As she pulled it from his dry mouth, she asked, “Are you alright?”

Kazuo coughed, and did his best to try to moisten his mouth before finally managing to piece together his words.  After a hard swallow, he shouted at Fumi, “What are you people doing here?! RUN, you stupid bitch!”

Instantly, Fumi’s fist cracked across Kazuo’s jaw.  He sat there stunned, as did she.

“I d-didn’t…!” Fumi stuttered, her hands shaking.  She had never actually hit anyone before, and the speed at which she instinctively hit him was shocking, and terrifying to her.  She stared at him for a moment, before she clenched her shaking hands into tight fists, remembering why she punched him, and she shouted, “We’re trying to help you, idiot!”

“I don’t want your help!” Kazuo barked back at her.

“Too bad!” replied Fumi, beginning to examine his chains and shackles, “You don’t get to make that call!”

As she looked him over, she realized that the chains seemed every bit as secure as the ones which had held his shadow before.  Furthermore, bound in his arms was the body of a small girl, curled against his chest.

‘I don’t think i can free him,’ she thought, ‘and I’m sure he’s not going to let hergo, not with the way everything here has unfolded…’

“Don’t bother helping him,” the ‘Shadow’ Kazuo wailed, tears streaming down his face as he lashed himself with the chain again, “He didn’t stand up to his parents because he was afraid they’d do the same to him… He sacrificed Mimiru for his own life.  He’s a miserable sack of shit and he’s not worth saving.”

Shadow Kazuo suddenly swung his chain, coated in black blood, toward Suu.  As Suu lifted her arms to instinctively shield herself, Shamhat lifted her hands, and a sheer white scarf deflected the chain.

“Th-That’s not true!” Suu shouted, “He was a child then!”

“He was a coward!” the ‘Shadow’ screamed.

“He was SIX!” shouted Hideki, “Maybe seven at the oldest… Do you want him to feel guilty just for having survived?!”

“I want him to die for her!” said Shadow Kazuo, swinging his chains toward Hideki.

Hideki lifted his katana, and Legion lowered his own.  As Legion’s murky arm moved, the vague afterimages solidified, turning into eight arms and swords that formed a shield to defend Hideki from the swinging chain.  As the chain clashed, drops of black blood slung through the barricade, splashing against the side of Hideki’s face.  Hideki snarled, and said, “You’re just like Suu-chan’s shadow, aren’t you… You want him to die so you can have his body…”

“I want him to die for Mimiru’s sake!” Shadow Kazuo shouted, though his smile through his dripping blood betrayed him; “He wants it too… Mimiru is so lonely now... He knows he doesn’t deserve to live, and it’s time he went and took care of her like a big brother should!”

Fumi watched as Hideki fought back against the crashing chains and waves of small demons that crawled from the dark pools of blood.  Slowly, she turned to look back at Kazuo, and she asked quietly, “You believe that, don't you?”

Kazuo was quiet.

Fumi turned to face him fully, and asked, “Do you actually believe you shouldn't be alive?”

Kazuo lowered his head, hiding his face under the shadow of his bangs.  He held the girl a bit closer to him, before replying sternly, “Nothing wrong with his logic, as far as I can tell.”

“Except for everything,” said Fumi, “You giving up your life doesn't do anything to help Mimiru-chan.”

“You didn't know her!” he snapped, lifting his head to glare sharply at her, “Don't act like you know anything about her.”

“Was she a cruel child?” Fumi asked, “Was she cold and resentful?”

“No!” Kazuo shouted, throwing his body forward against his chains, before settling back helplessly.  He looked down at the small, limp body in his arms, and said sadly, “She didn't have one drop of hate in her heart.  Even if people were mean to her or mistreated her, she was always so sweet…”

“Then what makes you think she’d want this?” Fumi asked, “How could you think she’d want anything but to see you live the life she couldn’t?”

Kazuo stared down at Mimiru, and tears began to well in the corners of his eyes.

Shadow Kazuo laughed through his wailing tears, and sent another chain crashing across his back.  Another splash of black blood poured across the floor, and this time, a dark silhouette began to rise up from his bloodied back.

“H-Hideki-kun,” Suu stammered as she stepped back, staring up at the growing silhouette, “This one is a lot bigger…”