11 Fateful Reunion

A week had passed.

Akira and Mako returned to their daily routines: training, taking care of the shrine and carrying out assignments.

On a side note, Mako was still trying to track Kamen down. She had told A, B and C, the shikigamis in the communication hub, to keep an eye for any unusual spike of malevolence, while she herself would patrol the city, especially around the clubs and bars, after any assignments.

So far, it has been a week of fruitless search and it seemed rather quiet other than some minor spirit disturbance.

On the other hand, Taka had also returned to his college after the last meeting with Akira and Mayuri. It will be a while before Akira and Taka could get together again since both of them were busy with their own life.

Mayuri also got better, both physically and mentally, and buried herself in work in her father's construction company. Although it has been a week since she met Akira, she would text him from time to time, and Akira would enlighten her up with his supernatural stories every time.

On the eighth day afternoon…

"Akira! Akira!"

Mako was calling out to Akira loudly as she walked towards multipurpose hall of the shrine, where Akira usually trained and practiced when it was empty; he would practice at the side yard of his house when it was being used for special occasions.

Mako slide the door open and saw Akira sitting in the middle, meditating.

"Akira, new assignment today. Reports of some unusual activities near an old abandoned bar, location is at the edge of Roppongi area. People heard noises and thumping inside the empty bar at night, probably just some souls. We'll go out at 9 tonight, be ready."

Mako stood in front of Akira, looking down at him.

"Okay. What about the Yoma, that mask bastard, anything about him?"

Akira replied without opening his eyes, except for a shallow smile on his face.

"Still nothing, A, B and C are trying their best to match the malevolence they detected that day, but nothing. Let's go for another patrol after we are done tonight, just in case."

Slightly anxious with her arms crossed, Mako voiced her suggestion.

"Roger that."

Mako left after a nod from Akira, and when hall was empty but him, Akira opened one of his eyes.

He sneakily took his smartphone out from his sleeve and pressed the play button.

While the show's opening theme song was playing, Akira muttered, "Well then, will we get some action tonight? It's getting boring."

The drama continued to play for hours, until the phone's battery was drained.

The day was over and the night took over.

It was a rather quiet night in the street for it was a weekday.

Akira and Mako had arrived at the designated abandoned bar and stood in front of the broken door.

The bar was located in the corner of a quiet street, even the streetlamp outside the tiny bar wasn't working properly.

The flickering light made the place look more eerie, yet it didn't bother the two of them.

"Let's get this over with shall we, I still have 5 more episodes to finish." Akira, with his Bladestaff behind him, stretched his arms.

"What?" Mako looked at him in confusion.

"Er… Let's go in!"

Akira looked away awkwardly before he pushed the door open.

Mako raised a confused brow.

The bar was tiny, only a 4 seater at the bar counter and 1 more table with a long connected sofa beside it. The whole place could fit probably less than 10 people at once, including the bartender. Behind the counter was many bottles of wine, whiskey and vodka, all covered in dust.

There was a toilet behind and a mini storeroom which was also the bartender's resting room. The torchlight app on their smartphones were switched on, shedding light over the dark place.

"Erm… There's nothing here." Akira said in slight disappointment as he leaned at the bar counter.

"Look, the seat and the table!" Mako pointed at the sofa.

The whole place was covered in dust but not the sofa, the dust traces on the sofa showed that someone with a physical body moved around the sofa violently and the table was disorganized.

"Someone was here? Where did he or she go? There's nothing living in this place, except for us both." Akira asked.

"Search the place, look for something that doesn't belong or is too clean." Mako said..

Make began her search at the bar counter, then the sofa; Akira went into the storeroom followed by the toilet.

10 minutes later, Akira came back.

"It seems like the toilet was used recently." Akira said.

"I also found this under the sofa." Mako held a piece of torn tie in her hand and waved it.

Akira felt extremely familiar at the red torn tie.

"Where did I see this before…"

Before he could search his memories, something stopped him.

"Excuse me."

A voice sounded behind Akira.

Akira and Mako turned to the direction of the storeroom, and shone their phones at that direction.

A pale young man in bartender attire came into sight.

"You are…" Mako asked.

."I am… was the owner of this bar. I-I know I am a ghost right now, but listen to me, I require your help." The young man said nervously.

Akira and Mako did not feel hostility from the spirit and if they could solve the problem peacefully, they would gladly do it.

"We're listening." Akira said.

"What happened here?" Mako asked.

"Er... You can call me Jo. This is my bar but it closed down half a year ago after my death and I've been here ever since." Jo, the young spirit, explained.

"So why are you still here? Something you can't leave behind? Clinging onto the place or someone? Let us know, we can help you." Akira said in a friendly manner.

Jo opened up easily to Akira's friendliness.

Half a year ago, Jo was the owner and bartender of his own little bar. He has a girlfriend that helped around, serving customers and cleaning the place.

They weren't earning much but both of them were happy. The happiness however ended with Jo's death.

It all began that night when a couple of drunk rascals harassed his girlfriend while the beverages were being served.

The few drunk rascals touched her and insulted her. Jo saw everything, despite his timid nature, he stood up and defended his girlfriend.

Things quickly went south when Jo and the drunk rascal got into a fight. Jo was beaten up and a bottle of whiskey was smashed into his head. Jo was knocked down with a bleeding head, his girlfriend managed to call the police but the drunk rascals did not give up just yet.

The three drunk rascals seized his girlfriend and tried to rape her. They pinned her on the bar counter and tore her dress off, but before they could do anything further, Jo stood back up and smashed a bottle into the drunk rascal who held his girlfriend.

The fight exacerbated, and during the messy fight, Jo was stabbed in the stomach by a broken bottle. The three rascals fled after they realized they had killed someone.

After the police arrived at the scene, Jo had bled to death in his girlfriend's arms.

"Tragic story, but I don't see any connections." Akira crossed his arms and commented.

"Akira! Let him finish!" Mako said.

"I've become a ghost after that and stayed in the bar. My girlfriend recovered and tried to run the bar by herself, for our sake, but it was too exhausting for her and the bar closed down 2 months later."

"I have always been here, watching her cry, watching her work and watching her stand back up. I didn't know how to talk to her and when I figured out how, it was the day she shut the bar down. We finally met, I told her not to worry, I told her to move on and she did, after almost a month of persuading her. The bar was under my name and she didn't want to sell it, she said she will find a way to reopen the bar after she got more financial support! So she would drop by from time to time, to visit me."

"Er… I'm sorry to say I still don't get the big picture. What are you trying to say?" Akira was confused by the long story. He was looking forward to some action, not some love story.

"Okay, sorry to put you through that… The point is, my girlfriend is missing! Three days ago, she came by as usual but then a man barged in! The man looked very strange, he felt dark and cold, and he could see me! He tried to grab my girlfriend, she struggled and I tried to help, but the man knocked me out with some weird light! When I woke up, she's gone, I can't leave this place, so I thought I would make some noise to attract attention, so that I can ask for help to look for my girlfriend!"

Akira and Mako exchanged a meaningful gaze, Mako then asked, "This man, can you describe him?"

"He was wearing a suit with a tie, he has dark skin and a very angry look. He may look like a human being but my instinct told me he was something more! I can't do anything to stop him, so please help me! Please look for my girlfriend!"

A man in a suit and looked angry?

Mako looked at the broken tie in her hand, she showed it to Jo, "Does this tie belonged to the man?"

"Yes! My girlfriend ripped it off the man when she tried to fight him!" Jo answered.

The bad feeling rose from Mako's heart, she hoped that it was just overthinking, but it came true.

Her phone rang all of a sudden, "Excuse me." she said as she answered the phone call by touching her earpiece.

"Don't worry, we will find your girlfriend, but you can't stay here forever. After we located your girlfriend, we will have to send you away." Akira assured Jo..

"I understand. It's been a long time now, and I would gladly leave if I know she's safe." Jo looked down in a saddened look..

Right after that, Mako turned around and said in a serious manner, "Akira, it's him."

Akira grinned at her, he then told Jo to stay put while both of them rushed out of the bar, Akira told Jo they would return soon.

Jo saw the two of them off and started to pray, "Please don't let anything happen to Karin."

Akira and Mako sprinted to the nearby river.

Shikigami A told Mako through the phone call that they picked up Kamen's malevolence signal under the bridge.

Urban rivers had bridges built over it and path equipped with slopes were on both sides of the river, allowing people to walk.

On top of the slopes were more ground, commonly connected to the road or garden, and Akira and Mako were currently standing there, looking towards the bottom of the bridge further away.

Both of them slid down the slope and approached the bridge with care.

Since it was in the middle of the night, the shadowy spot under the bridge was dark, Akira and Mako's sight could not penetrate it, all they heard was some rattling noise.

Akira grabbed his Bladestaff, Mako her tonfas, they were ready to engage whosoever came out from the dark.

Footsteps were heard, a figure slowly emerged from the dark.

Akira and Mako raised their weapons at the shadow, they slightly moved their feet into an optimal position for them to strike.

The moonlight shed its soft light over the figure's face when he walked out, the possessed Ken then came into sight, but without Kamen's mask, yet reeked of malevolence.

He was in his suit as per his last appearance but his tie was loose and torn, his chest was tainted black.

Though none of his extra looks concerned Akira and Mako because they were looking at the person Ken held in his right hand.

It was a lady and by the looks of it, she's probably dead.

"You bastard! What've you done to her?!" Mako yelled at Ken.

"This? This is just food that I picked up few days ago around an abandoned bar nearby, I thought I 'aged' her by inducing fear and torture her. That way, she will taste even better! Do you want to know what I did to her? I can do the same to you too, little girl!" Ken said with a menacing grin.

"Mako, is that…" Akira asked softly.

"Most likely." Mako replied softly, her eyes were burning of anger.

"It's good to finally see you both again. After our last meeting, I can't go a day without thinking about you both, especially you boy!" Ken tore his stained shirt off and revealed his chest, showing the recovered wound at this neck that extends to his shoulder.

"I will surely make you pay for damaging this beloved body of mine!" Ken said.

He then tossed the dead girl aside and put his hand over his face. The mask of Anger appeared, symbolizing that Kamen had killed what was left of Ken and completely taken over the body.

"See this?" Kamen pointed at his Anger mask.

The mask was a little bit different than the last time, it looked much lively with deeper contours and at its frowning mouth were two sharp fangs pointing upwards, like an elephant's tusk.

"I am not who I am a week ago! This time, I'll make sure to kill both of you." Anger Kamen sneered.

"Hmph, did you forget that we kicked your ass back then? What makes you think this time will end any different from the last?" Akira said while pointing his Bladestaff at Anger Kamen.

"Hahahahahaha, do you really think I won't be prepared after that? I've brought more of myself this time and we will know who will die in the end!"

Just like what Mako speculated, Anger Kamen had brought reinforcement to this fight. She looked at Akira and gave him a firm gaze, telling him to be wary.

"Let me introduce you to Sorrow, my other mask! Or should I call him…"

Anger Kamen stepped aside and revealed a figure behind him.

The figure walked out from the dark and when Mako saw the figure's face, her eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat.

"Domon-sensei!" Akira said out of surprise, but there wasn't any anxiety or worry on his face, notwithstanding the furrowed brows.

Mako too knew who the elderly man was as Akira always spoke of him back in the shrine, the situation had just exacerbated from bad to the worst possible outcome.

"I see you are very familiar with this second body of mine. Well you must be, he is your respected teacher after all, hahahahahaha! But don't worry, he won't be here to teach you about life anymore! He is me now!" Anger Kamen laughed menacingly.

Domon stepped out from the dark. His attire was the same from the last time Akira saw him, his eyes were dull, his face looked weak and his body movements felt stiff.

"What will you do now, boy and girl? If you hesitate, it may cost you your life! But I won't give you the chance to even hesitate!" Anger Kamen sneered.

"You know, there's one other thing different about you… you talk too much, even more than last time!" Akira pointed his Bladestaff straight to Anger Kamen.

Anger Kamen was startled a little by the reaction, he was expecting rage or sorrow from the boy but what he got was a weird feeling instead. The weird feeling troubled his mind for a little. Discarding the thought, he continued, "I'll make you regret that you crossed paths with me."

A mask formed over Domon's dull face. It shared resemblance to Anger Kamen's mask but the expression it showed was sorrow and instead two fangs, a long tongue stuck out.

Malevolence around Anger Kamen and Sorrow Kamen spiked, it shrouded both their bodies and started to physically transformed them.

Anger Kamen's arms grew robust and long rapidly, its body also started to expand horizontally. As it grew in size, the suit broke, its body arched forward and it stood on all four of its limbs like a silverback gorilla. The skin got darker and the tusk on the mask got sharper and longer.

Domon, or Sorrow Kamen, had 6 black tendrils grew from its back. It wrapped its body from top to bottom like a mummy and the body started to float from the ground. More tendrils grew from its back, and they waved like wild grass under the night breeze; the tongue on the mask grew longer.

After the quick transformation, their eyes shone in red.

Anger Kamen moved a step forward on its forelimb and said, "Are you ready to die?"

"Hehehehe, I will tear you to shreds!" Sorrow Kamen said as the tendrils grew longer.

Akira and Mako entered their battle stance, their spiritual energy were burning at an all time high, their bodies were covered in white and orange glow respectively.

A fierce fight was bound to break out and the night will be long for them.

...

Though the night was rather short for someone else.

Jo back in his abandoned bar was wandering around aimlessly.

Suddenly, a voice entered his ears.

"Jo!"

"Karin?!"

Jo turned around and saw his girlfriend at the entrance of the bar.

He was overjoyed, on his face and in his heart. He thanked Akira for keeping the promise.

His girlfriend, Karin, ran towards him and hugged him but upon touching her, Jo was shocked.

"Karin… You...What happened?!" Jo looked at her with utter astonishment.

"It doesn't matter now. What matters is that we are together now, I've always thinking about coming into your world, and now it seems like fate wants us to be together."

Tears rolled down Karin's cheeks as she hugged Jo tight.

Jo's surprise was slowly replaced by joy mixed with sorrow, he didn't understand how Karin died, but like she said, it no longer matters as they were finally together again.

"I-I am sorry!" Jo hugged her tightly and cried a river.

The couple couldn't be together when they were alive but they managed to welcome a full ending in their death.