Sometime during the conversation about the Princess, a loud crash and screams suddenly filled the air to alert Hanami of the danger nearby. She shot Asuka one last look of worry and bolted off without saying anything, figuring the Ronin would instinctively follow behind. All she could think about was Mizuki since everyone knew that one had a habit of putting herself into harm's way, and just making rash decisions in general. 

Running as fast as her short legs would take her, Hanami passed the restaurant where Noriaki and Ariiko were last seen, and then the village inn. She could tell that she was in the area where the disturbance took place, because the amount of demonic energy in this opening was overwhelming her. Looking around frantically through the dust cloud that had risen from all of the broken down houses in the village, her eyes caught glowing red characters moving through the debris. It wasn't until the brown cloud diffused that she could truly make out the ox and the giant rat riding it. Almost immediately she recognized the same dark beads that corrupted the tree spirit yesterday, and then... A flash of silvery white hair before her eyes.

"Mizuki-san!!! No!" She shouted from afar, drawing her bow and nocking an arrow, aiming at the rat. She was hesitant to shoot for fear of hitting The Princess, but after some careful planning, her arrow whizzed through the air.