For a long moment, the only sound in the dilapidated room was the soft patter of dust and debris raining down from the ceiling. The air, thick with spiritual pressure, was a tangible weight pressing in on them all. Momo and Okarun were frozen, their minds struggling to process the scene. The quiet, sad-eyed boy from the park was gone, replaced by this masked, monstrous figure whose power dwarfed anything they had encountered before.
Aira, dropped to the floor in the yokai's moment of shock, scrambled backward, her eyes wide with a new kind of terror. She had been ready to face a demon, but she hadn't expected a second, even more intimidating one to join the fray. His growled words echoed in her ears. He was… protecting her?
The Acrobatic Silky was the first to recover. Its head snapped toward Rei, its tangled hair writhing like a nest of snakes. Its love-crazed eyes narrowed with predatory rage. "Who are you?" it hissed, its voice scraping the air. "You dare interfere with a mother and her child?"
Rei didn't answer. He simply raised his other hand, and a second black pistol materialized, a mirror image of the first. He held them loosely, one pointed toward the ceiling, the other at the floor, in a stance of almost lazy indifference. It was a stark contrast to the immense power he radiated. This casual demeanor was, in its own way, more terrifying than any overt threat.
"Get Aira out of here," Rei said, his distorted voice calm and level. He wasn't looking at Momo or Okarun, but they knew the command was for them.
The yokai shrieked in fury and launched itself at him. It was impossibly fast, a crimson blur of flailing limbs and snapping hair. But to Rei's enhanced senses, it was moving through molasses. He didn't even bother to dodge. He simply raised his right pistol and fired a small, precise Cero at the floor just in front of the charging yokai. The blast erupted, not with destructive force, but as a concussive wave, kicking up a wall of floorboards and debris that forced the Silky to halt its charge and leap back.
That was the opening Okarun needed. He shook off his stupor and, with a burst of Turbo Granny's speed, zipped across the room, scooped up a stunned Aira, and retreated to Momo's side.
"What is he?" Okarun panted, his eyes locked on Rei.
"I don't know," Momo breathed, her psychic senses reeling from the pressure. "But he's fighting it. For now." She focused, her own power flaring to life. "We need to help!"
The Acrobatic Silky, enraged, changed tactics. Its hair shot out, dozens of thick, black tendrils whipping through the air toward Rei from all directions. It was a cage of living wires, impossible to dodge.
Rei still didn't move from his spot. He began to fire. Pop. Pop. Pop. Each shot was a small, contained Cero blast, perfectly placed to intercept a strand of hair. He moved with an unhurried, economical grace, his pistols swiveling to track and eliminate each threat. It wasn't a frantic battle; it was a masterclass in crowd control. He was a shepherd, and the yokai's deadly hair was his flock.
Momo saw her chance. While Rei kept the main assault busy, several strands of hair snaked along the floor, trying to flank him. "Okarun, keep it distracted!" she yelled. She thrust her hands out, her aura flaring. The floorboards around Rei groaned as she telekinetically ripped them up, creating a crude, splintered barrier to block the flanking attack.
The Acrobatic Silky, frustrated by its inability to land a blow, let out a piercing scream. Its body contorted, and it launched itself into the air, spinning like a top. Its hair fanned out, creating a whirlwind of razor-sharp tendrils. It was a massive area-of-effect attack, too widespread for even Rei to shoot down completely.
Rei's casual demeanor vanished. "Move!" he barked. He holstered one pistol, which dissolved into nothing, and slammed his now-free hand onto the floor. A wave of crimson energy pulsed outwards, forming a crude, semi-translucent dome of spiritual energy just as the whirlwind of hair descended.
The tendrils slammed into the shield with the force of a hailstorm, cracking and splintering the energy barrier. It wouldn't hold for long. Through the translucent red wall, Rei saw the yokai preparing to strike again. He had underestimated its desperation. He had tried to control the fight, to neutralize the threat without destroying it, all to preserve the original plot. But his control had limits.
The plot. The river. It was a force of nature.
In the split second that Rei's attention was focused on maintaining his shield, the Acrobatic Silky did something unexpected. It wasn't aiming for him anymore. One of its tendrils, thicker and faster than the rest, shot under the shield, a black spear aimed not at the masked warrior, but at the source of its obsession.
It all happened in a heartbeat. Okarun was too far away. Momo was focused on her own barrier. Rei saw it coming, his masked eyes widening in horror. He could drop the shield and intercept it, but that would leave everyone vulnerable to the main assault.
The tendril struck Aira Shiratori in the chest.
There was no scream. Just a soft, wet thud. The whirlwind of hair ceased, falling limp. The Acrobatic Silky landed softly on the floor, its rage replaced by a sudden, chilling confusion.
Aira stood for a second, a look of pure shock on her face. She looked down at the black tendril protruding from her chest. Then, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed.
The silence that followed was heavier and more profound than any Rei had ever known. It was the silence of failure. He had thrown a boulder into the river, and the current had simply swept it aside, carving the same tragic path it always had.
He let his shield dissipate, the red energy fading away. He made his mask and pistol vanish with a thought, his face now exposed and pale. He stood there, just a boy in a school uniform again, looking at the still form of the girl he had failed to protect. The loneliness, the aspect of his power, rushed back in, a cold and bitter tide. He had all this strength, and in the end, it had changed nothing.