[color=gray][right][i]You’re going to be my ride or die.
With you till the end.[/i][/right]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/lNnPcGc.png?1[/img][/center][hr]
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When they had finally arrived in Seiki, Raiko found the moment to be a bittersweet one. In the ten years, he had stepped foot into his home village. He had thought about it, of course. For the first couple of years, he was with Ryoshi and the others, Raiko wanted more than anything to return home and be with the people he had known to be his family. The villagers were the closest thing that Raiko had to family. Even though Ryoshi was the closest thing he had to family, he felt as though it wasn’t what he needed - not at that age, at least. The elders and the villagers who had accepted him were the kind of people that Raiko wanted to be around. 

And even now, as he stood next to Ren in Seiki, it wasn’t exactly how he pictured it. When he pictured his grand return after it was safe for him to do so, Raiko imagined he’d be greeted by the villagers and Elder Tanaka and there would be a grand feast with all of his favorites. There would be laughter, smiles, and a joyous energy as they all celebrated the return of Raiko. But...Raiko didn’t expect half of the village to be burned down with bodies of both critically-injured and those who have suffered mild injuries. It was practically a battlefield and Raiko felt guilty that he might’ve caused this for engaging with Ren and Kaito. He felt as though, somehow, he brought this terror to his home.

For a moment, Raiko felt paralyzed by his own regret. [color=b5484b]“If I had just stayed away, maybe this wouldn’t be happening,”[/color] he muttered to himself. Raiko quickly shook those thoughts away when Ren took off towards the forest. Raiko wasn’t far behind her.

As they ran through the forest, Raiko’s senses were overcome by the amount of demonic energy within the immediate area was so intense that it took him a moment or two to finally adjust to it. By the time he had, however, the duo of Ren and Raiko had arrived at the core of where the source of the strong demonic energy was. It was, quite fitting to the situation at hand, that in the middle of the forest, they were met by a strong demon. And what was even worse, the demon seemed poised to attack some human male and the Elder Tanaka. This demon had a flaming appearance. Everything from the skin on its body to the sword it held in its hand, all of it was lit aflame and it even had the temperature to match.

[color=b5484b]“Ren wait--”[/color]

Too late. Without warning, Ren charged forth with her staff in hand. 

[color=b5484b]“Well, at least her courage hasn’t wavered,”[/color] Raiko noted aloud, standing next to the injured Elder Tanaka and the human male. Tanaka looked at Raiko warily, though he gave her a smile. [color=b5484b]“Nice to see you again, old lady.”[/color] He snickered, smiling.

“Again? Old Lady--wait. It couldn’t be…”

As much as Raiko would have loved to hear the rest of her thought, there were more pressing concerns. Specifically, Raiko and Ren had that demon with flames all over his body to deal with. Though, as Raiko noticed, Ren was already ahead of him on that front. She charged forward at the same time the demon did and their weapons clashed. Demonic and spiritual energy creating a shockwave of sorts; and though Raiko wanted to help, he saw Tanaka and how she wasn’t doing so well. 

[color=b5484b]“You, human. Take the elder back to te village so she can get the aid she needs.”[/color]

“I can’t. I need to stay with Ren. She needs my help.”

[color=b5484b]“Ren will be fine. The Elder needs help [b]right now![/b]”[/color]

The man didn’t know what to do and Raiko knew this guy was afraid of both the demon and how Ren was here. 

[color=b5484b]“Listen, Ren will be okay. I will be here to make sure this demon doesn’t hurt her. The elder needs help or she will die. Do you want that on your conscious?”[/color]

Raiko saw the man was stuttering to find the words.

[color=b5484b]“Goddamn it, man!”[/color] Raiko’s demonic energy flared up, though parts of it seeped into Tanaka, closing up the major wound. [color=b5484b]“That won’t last, but it’ll buy you some time. Now go!”[/color]

Without any further words coming from his mouth, the man sheathed his weapon, took Tanaka in his large arms, and ran back towards the village.

After Raiko had seen they were gone, he charged forward to the demon and Ren, both of whom were still locked in a struggle. Raiko unleashed a powerful wave of his demonic energy that flew over Ren’s short frame and hit the demon right in the head and allowed Ren the perfect opportunity to capitalize on it.
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