At first, it was just one person. Then two, then ten. They all began regaining their consciousness around the same time and their first reactions were to look down at their hands and the others surrounding them in a daze.

Yoko hesitantly stepped forward after passing Akane to Erina.

"Are you all... okay?"

They looked at Yoko confused.

"Y-Yoko, is that you?"

Yoko's father stepped out from the crowd and walked forward.

"Dad..."

Yoko's eyes moistened as she moved to embrace her father. With that as the signal, everyone began to recall everything that had happened. Kai silently watched over them and waited.

"Then... that means, it's all over, right?"

One of the clan members muttered.

"What about the boy who was possessed by a demon?"

Yoko slowly released her father and looked back to Kai. The clan members followed her gaze and saw Kai standing there bloodied.

Kai took the initiative and walked forward.

"It's been seven years since everything happened. Many things have change during that time and... we've only managed to successfully revive you because of Akane's presence. Without her, everyone would've ended up dead.

"However, that doesn't change the fact the reason for everything was me. I will accept any punishment other than death, that will have to wait for a few more years."

Kai lowered his head. Amelia, Erina, and Yoko looked at Kai weirdly. Arata and the rest looked surprised.

The clan members began to whisper amongst each other while looking at Kai.

"Well, haven't you suffered enough?"

Yoko's father talked first. Many others nodded in agreement.

Kai looked up at them confused.

"You lost an arm and a leg, you looked like you were beaten to an inch of your life, and you weren't even the cause in the first place, were you?"

"It was our fault for being too weak to face the demon."

"The Clan Leader wasn't exactly the best person either."

The Kuroshi Clan members all began chiming in agreement. Although there were a couple of people that complained, it wasn't as if they wanted to punish Kai either.

The head elder appeared. He was only slightly tainted by the demon's miasma, unlike the clan leader, Mikado, who was too far gone to be saved.

"With the Clan Leader gone, we're going to need a new one. And, while the head elder usually takes over the position, I don't think I'm fit to rule. So, what do you say?"

The head elder looked at Yoko. She blinked twice and pointed at herself comically.

"Me?"

"Do you think anyone else is enough for the position?"

Yoko frowned and was about to suggest one of the elders but they talked before she could.

"We're unaware of the happenings of the past few years. Having one of us elders as a leader would spell nothing but trouble."

With that option gone, Yoko turned around and was about to suggest Kai but stopped herself. His gaze reminded her that while they may not have wanted to punish him, it wouldn't sit right with anyone if he were to be made the new leader.

Akane... wasn't an option.

Yoko was helpless. It wasn't until her father whispered something in her ear did her eyes light up and she accepted the role.

Kai, who strained his ears to hear what they were saying suddenly put on a strange expression.

'She won't... right?'

Yoko coughed purposefully then did a curtsy in front of everyone.

"I, Kuroshi Yoko, accept the mantle of being the clan's leader. I'll be supported by all of the current existing elders and my soon-to-be husband, Kai."

Kai choked and coughed a few times. Everyone else looked on with wry smiles, but nobody offered a word of rejection.

After proclaiming as such, Yoko ran next to Kai, embraced his arm and then sweetly asked him, "Dear, when will we have our wedding?"

At that point, Erina couldn't take it anymore and pried her off. Akane was still in her arms but she was more than capable of doing so.

It was chaos with Yoko going on the attack and Erina trying to fight back. The Kuroshi Clan just looked on with warm gazes. They put the past behind them way too easily, but Yoko was grateful. Although she had also been buried with the hate for years after the incident, just being with Kai was enough for her to fully forgive him. He wasn't the cause of the incident, but he was at fault for trying to shoulder everything by himself and that ended with the tragedy.

It was a bad habit that he had acquired somewhere. Taking in all the burden without sharing it to anyone else.

At the very least, the rest of this day was peaceful.

"Kai..."

Akane weakly called out. Her hand was immediately held by another. She wasn't in a good state, but she wasn't at any risk of dying. Because her father wasn't in the clan and she didn't have a mother, Kai nursed her in his own room. Akane stayed over there most of the time during her childhood as well.

"I'm here."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"I'm not dreaming, am I?"

"You're not."

"That's good..."

Tears began welling up in her eyes and Kai moved to wipe them off.

Of all the members of the Kuroshi Clan that were lost during the incident seven years ago, only four people hadn't returned. Mikado, who was influenced by the demon that possessed Hyosuke, Kai's parents whose souls were in another place, and Akane whose body is missing.

The body that Akane is occupying is nowhere near her own, it's the angel that is still housed inside her body. While Kai had switched the dominating personality, he couldn't separate the two of them completely, they were melded together perfectly.

"I promise I'll get you back to your old body."

Akane raised her hand to stroke Kai's cheeks.

"I don't mind... I've lived for quite a while in this one too, and there isn't any other inconvenience."

The only way Kai could separate the angel and Akane completely is to have both of their souls house their original bodies or the other. Otherwise, there would always be an invisible connection between the two of them that even Kai wouldn't be able to sever.

The moment he killed the angel's soul, Akane would take the damage by the void it leaves behind.

In a sense, they're already one and the same.

"...Who are you taking as your wife? Erina? Yoko? Or was it that blonde girl I saw at the side...?"

Kai made a difficult expression. Akane took it as reluctance and lowered her hand.

"I'm sorry I asked—"

"All of them."

"...Sorry?"

"I'm going to marry all of them, and a few more."

"..."

Akane looked at Kai like he was a mad man. Since the past, she has loved Kai. Yoko and Erina have as well. The three of them vowed that whoever he chose, they would only wish the best. However, he was going for all of them?

"And me...?"

"If you want to, I'll gladly accept you as well."

Akane smiled and closed her eyes.

"I'd like that..."

She drifted back into sleep. Her body wasn't weak, it was just the mental fatigue that had accumulated over the years and during the separation.

Yoko opened the door immediately after.

"Is she awake?"

"No. She just fell asleep."

"I see."

"...?"

Yoko sat on top of his lap with her front facing his. She licked her lips and began to kiss him. Her lips were soft and warm, but she was aggressive. It should be just her first kiss but she bit and sucked his lips and also shoved her tongue inside his mouth.

It didn't take long for Kai to want to fight back and their positions were reversed. Although she acted aggressive, Kai had plenty of experience in that area and in the end, she separated from him first while heaving. There was a thin line of saliva between them showing that they had just been connected.

"Are you still wounded?" Yoko asked.

"No, my body is in great condition right now."

"Then..."

Yoko undid some of the ropes that had been tied around her outfit and she opened the top part of her chest. Although she wasn't well-endowed like Erina and Amelia, she had her own appeal and Kai couldn't help but take a gulp.

"We can't."

Kai gestured at Akane who was sleeping on the bed right beside them.

"She'll understand."

"Stop."

All of a sudden, the room was filled with a chilling cold. Erina was standing by the open door and there was a thin layer of frost covering the walls of the room.

"I could let go a kiss, two or three, or however you want them. But, I won't allow you to go anything beyond that yet, especially when I haven't!"

Yoko stuck out her tongue and got up from Kai's lap.

Kai felt the suffocating atmosphere and moved to diffuse the situation.

"We're going to the capital tomorrow. Emi's condition isn't getting any better."

Yoko's ears immediately perked up and she asked worriedly, "what happened?"

"She isn't in any danger, it's just that she's going to have to go through some pain for a few years and I want to help her relieve that. And, well... the area around her is in danger."

Erina's eyes widened and she began to shake Kai.

"Kai, please say important things like that sooner! She's in the capital, you know?! That place has tens of thousands of people!"

"D-don't worry, there's more than enough time before her power ends up exploding. I would have brought her with me if she was that volatile. Besides, I left Angie instructions on what to do in my absence."

By now, the situation should be under control, was what Kai was saying.

Yoko began to gnaw at her thumb's nail. Kai hold told her about Emi's situation in the future, where she sacrified her own life so her brother could live.

"Anyway, that's the situation. We're going to head to the capital first thing tomorrow. Yoko, you're welcome to stay here if you want. Akane won't be coming along so Amelia will be left to take care of her."

Though the clan members did forgive him for what he had done in the past, it wasn't as if he was shameless enough to just make himself part of the clan again. At the very least, he wanted to distance himself for a while.

"No, I'll go. I need to make sure Emi is safe, I'll check on Akane once she's alright."

"Got it."

And so, Kai managed to defuse the situation.

"They really suffered a lot, haven't they?"

Yoko's father sighed as he thought back to what had happened these past seven years, and some time beyond that as well.

"Yes... The Clan Leader was cruel, and I wasn't any better for allowing all of it to happen."

The head elder added.

Seven years ago, they were killed by Kai who was possessed by a demon. Then, years later, the Soul Thief had taken their wandering souls who were about to disperse and fused them with the soul of Akane and the angel. They were all painfully aware of what was happening.

The pain they felt couldn't be described—but Akane was bearing pain several times that of theirs. And during that time, their emotions were synchronized with hers and forget about ill-will, they even revered Kai now. He saved them from the eternal torment they would've faced and coupled with Akane's emotions indirectly influencing them, nobody hated him in the least.

"And, have you all noticed? We've all gotten stronger. I'm currently a B-class, a place I never thought I'd reach before. And, my body feels better than ever."

The head elder was C-class due to the influence of the demon, before that, he was just D-class. Yet, he managed to become even stronger than he was seven years ago.

Everyone also agreed. About 60% of the entire clan was F-class before, and around 30% were E-class but now, most of them were D-class and some were even at C-class. Yoko and the others had already reached A-class, they could feel it.

"We'll repay them this way."

"Agreed."

"Let's get stronger!"

It was then that Kai gained an army of 10,000 strong. One that would prove most useful during the future war.