"So, you wanna know why he thinks I'm a failure?"

Tamaki frowned while starring out the glassy window and onto the view of the rest of campus. He turns around, fully equipped in his uniform and hand rested on hilts rested on the side hip.

He can see Yuta and Maki have a chat about what Suguru Getou said about her. He thinks about his comments a day ago and it still makes him upset. The three stood in a lonely classroom since classes were cancelled all week.

"I was kinda wondering that, yeah."

Tamaki and Maki exchange silence contact. She nods a bit, reassuring it's okay for her to tell her story.

"You've heard of the noble families, right?"

Yuta puts a hand to his chin, but truth to be told, he had no clue of any.

"I-I honestly don't know." He admits with his head down. Maki doesn't take offense. Probably for the best, she thinks.

"Her family, Zenin, are one of the noble families." Tamaki chimed in, refusing to leave his gaze out the window. "Maki is the daughter to the second-in-line head. His brother, Naobito is its current head."

"I see.." He then looks at Maki. "Then why did he say that-"

"Cause I wasn't gifted with curse energy. No innate technique. Nothing." She says bluntly. She reaches for her glasses, taking them off for a moment and observing it closely.

"I can only see spirits using these glasses. My weapons are already imbued with energy without me having to have any..

That's why they all find me a failure."

"B-But that's wrong! Aren't they your family?"

"They are and yet they treat me like a stranger. It's why I left.." She says with a sigh. She thinks of the time when she walked out of Naobito's room and kept marching forward, even without bidding her little sister goodbye.

She had to make sacrifices, all at the cost of wanting to prove them all wrong.

"But I guess, I wasn't too alone." She looks on, staring at Tamaki. "I had him."

Yuta looks at him too with a small smile.

"Tamaki took me in when I had nowhere to go. He taught me I wasn't alone in the world, really."

Tamaki turns his heel and gives a grin to her.

"Haha, yeah. And in a way, she helped me too. She too made me feel like I wasn't alone."

"Not the only outsider, right?" Maki chuckled and so did he.

"Yeah..but anyways, I have faith my Maki will pull through that goal. I want to see her become the first-grade sorcerer. She deserves it."

She crosses her arms, "That's right. I want to stick it to my family." She then shoots a smile at Yuta and all his respect and admiration went towards her.

"Zen-Maki." He corrects himself. "You really are strong. So resilient.."

He gets up from his seat with a sense of determination. Hands slam against the table, staring both at Tamaki and Maki.

"Then allow me to help. I want to see you prove your family too!" He puts a raising fist in the air with a big smile.

"Let's beat the Zenin family together!"

"Cheers to that, Yuta." Tamaki smiles as he walks over and gives Yuta a playful nudge. The boy giggles in return. Maki watches over them for a brief moment before blushing,

"Y-You guys are.."

So kindhearted, so sweet it actually makes her heart melt a bit.

So cared for, she thinks.

"Too funny." She brushes off her real feelings but the two knew she genuinely appreciated the gestures.

Before anyone can say anything, Tamaki gasped out loud and Maki turned to see behind, a curtain surrounding the school grounds.

"It's starting." Tamaki narrowed his eyes, immediately drawing his swords. The ambush began and Maki didn't waste time to grab her Naginata by the wall.

"W-What's happening?!" Yuta exclaimed nervously. Tamaki puts a hand on him, comforting his nervous body, shaking.

"Yuta, stay put!" Tamaki instructed. "You need to stay in here. It looks like that Getou is trying to find you and kill you."

"I can't stay here." He shakes his head. "I can't bear the thought of letting you guys handle it for me!"

Maki scoffs as she runs and opens a window.

"Yuta, you completely underestimate us."

"Don't worry." the other raven hair boy says. A soft smile on his lips.

He walks away from him. He rushes to where Maki is. The two nod before plummeting down from the window. Yuta is too late when he runs after them. He watches the two fall down with eyes of despair,

"N-No..!"

Panda and Toge meanwhile found themselves outside of the curtain while it was forming. Panda turns to Toge,

"Toge, I'm going to break a hole in the barrier!"

"Salmon!"

Panda roars and with all his strength, he plummets his fist into the black curtain and it shatters like glass. Panda writhes his body to enter the small entrance with Toge tagging along.

"Hm, looks like someone destroyed the curtain. I'll just have to obliterate Yuta Okkotsu quick!" The menacing Getou says to himself with a wicked smile as he enters his old campus. He had tricked the upper-class sorcerers to go to Shinjuku.

But the real plan was for him to go and get at Yuta all on his own, while everyone left to the city.

It's only a few moments he realize that Yuta has a few friends who refuse to let harm get to him.

"Gahh!" Panda charges at the lonely Suguru Getou before his raging fist comes landing towards him. Getou smirks before easily dodging it and the ground starts to crumble beneath him when his fist lands there instead.

He pivots for an escape until Toge comes at him,

Getou's body shoots back with tremendous force. His body nearly destroyed and limbs separated. But then his body melts into black liquid, his body no more.

The two grow more alert, realizing he must've used a curse to duplicate himself.

"Pay attention!" Getou, who's known as the curse user, used his physical strength to tackle Panda and hit him hard on the head. The curse doll groans out in pain as he descends to the floor.

"H-He's good at hand to hand combat too?!" Panda coughs off blood before looking over at Toge.

"Toge!"

Getou looks away and tries to attack him too, but Panda firmly wraps his claw around his ankle. Getou growls in frustration.

"Pay attention." Panda shoots back his own words. Toge backs him up,

Getou is pushed back against a nearby building with concussive impact. The building starts to crack before tumbling down. Dust whisks away in the air as Toge and Panda block their eyeview.

Getou is nowhere to be seen at the moment until he submerged once the dust went away. The last thing they see is Getou enshrined in a swarm of curses he inherited. They all plunge towards them, nearly killing them.

"Toge! Panda!" Tamaki cries out for his friends as he and Maki ran to the commotion. They stumbled for a moment when the ground shook like an earthquake. It wasn't going to stop them though, and they ran forward until they stopped on their steps.

They see, Getou with his hands out like a mad man. Tears of happiness stain his cheeks as he laughs crazily,

"Splendid..SPLENDID!" He laughs even more, "This is so precious! Seeing Okkotsu's friends trying to protect him, even at the cost of their lives!

Sorcerers protecting other sorcerers! A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT!"

Tamaki watches in horror when he sees a bloody Toge on the floor, unconscious but blood still gurgling out of his mouth. Panda, unconscious too with heavy wounds on the floor.

"Shit," Maki bit her lip at the sight and turns to look at Tamaki who is shaking with rage while Getou laughs, unaware those two are in front of him.

He looks down to his feet, clenching his fists.

Getou's smile fades away and his dark eyes look on to see Tamaki and Maki with their weapons.

Tamaki cursed him out, enraged and red brimming in his one eye. Suki stands tall in her growth with the two, ready to strike.

"People like you just need to shut up and die." Tamaki deadpans. "Everything you say is insane and we can't have that spurring around, now can we?" He poses in his fighting stance and Getou cocks his head, a bit annoyed.

"No, I'm the sane one here, Tamaki." Getou shoots back. "To eliminate non-humans for a world free of curses is something that must happen!"

"He's a psychopath, Tamaki! Don't even try to talk to him!" Maki exclaims.

Getou snapped and with his hand out, he casts a dragon-like spirit that soars right at her. Maki grunts and before she can muster what's going on, Tamaki wraps his hand around her waist and pulls her fast from danger.

Him and Suki escape from its wrath.

"You're flawed, Getou." Tamaki shouts at the man before releasing Maki from his grip. "And so is that damn plan of yours!"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about! Even if you try to wipe all of humanity, there will always be one standing. Inevitably, curses will rise again no matter what...

So yeah, that plan of yours?!"

Getou snarls from his insult and his head plagues with anger and frustration. He clenches his teeth and eyes widen with madness,

"Why you-why you..don't you DARE say such a thing!"

His swarm of spirits appear again and at his command, they all come rushing to them.

"Maki, jump!" The two jump when a slime-like spirit tries to trap them at the ground. Its body used up as a ladder for spirits to climb and try to reach for them. Suki distracts them, her enormous body hitting them to the side. It stuns them for a bit and before they can react, Maki slices them down to their torso, ooze gushing in the air.

Tamaki helps along and with a roar, comes into chaos with his swords slashing right through. He leaves the horde with blood and guts flying around. He pasts them before clashing with Getou. He tries to fight bare handed but he growls out in pain when Tamaki's blade turns into a deadly, razor sharp imbued with blue energy. It nearly chops his hand in half and he staggers away, but Tamaki doesn't relent and keeps swinging. He's tracked every of his moves before he can counter.

'He's locked in on my moves but not the spirits from behind!' Getou thinks before internally forcing his spirit to save him. His dragon-spirit swooping in, his claws open wide and snatch Tamaki before pulling him up in the air.

"TAMAKI!" Maki screams when blood spill out on his sides and he's pulled up. She tries to go after them but Getou comes in her way, a cache spirit lending him his playful cloud weapon.

"Monkeys like you deserve to die!" Getou spits out venom before clashing his weapon with her naginata. It's met with extreme force and Maki's body tumbles down. Suki lets out a cry before displaying her claws at Getou.

She wasn't going to let Getou touch her master's lover.

He curses when she scratches him hard on the cheek before pinning him down. He kicks her before slamming her hard with the playful cloud. She shouts in pain before thrown the debris from the fallen building.

Tamaki raises his swords before stabbing them right into its nostrils. It lets out a painful shriek and Tamaki feels its teeth loosening its grip. He shakes himself out before landing right on its the top of its nose. Curse energy illuminates softly around its wounds before he jumps up, just in time before the spirit crashes down to the surface.

He sees Getou when he comes down and doesn't let up. He swings his sword and he fights against his playful cloud. The two fight all to themselves for awhile until Getou decided he's had enough. More of his curse spirits came at him and while Tamaki could counter his attacks, it wasn't long till it all became overwhelming.

He knew and foresaw what they were all capable of doing but he was ganged up and it was hard to concentrate on one and the other. He's pinned down by their tendrils as Getou wishes him a slow death.

He walks up to him, laughing before coughing off some more blood.

"You're pretty good, you know that?"

He holds his playful cloud down before walking over to him. Tamaki checks the corner in his eye and see Suki standing up for a few seconds, before closing her eyes and collapsing back to the dirt.

'Don't overdo it, Suki.' He tells her, as much as she wants to go and save her master.

He watches without fear and Getou grabs his chin,

"You have so much potential to work with someone like me.." He starts. His calm, playful demeanor changes. And now he looks at Tamaki like he's nothing,

"But you had to go and insult me, didn't you?"

He makes sure the spirits all have their hold on him.

"Goodbye, Tamaki."

Tamaki had to think. He could cut out of the grip with his energy but Getou would only kill him. Killing Getou first would allow the spirits to kill him just in time before they fade along with their master.

So many routes he can see but all leading to his death.

Fuck.

He squirms and struggles in the grip as Getou brings up a small spirit in the palm of his head. Small but deadly, wasp-like with hands of poisonous blades that can shred you in seconds.

A slow and painful death, just like Getou wanted for him. It comes to him fast and Tamaki watches in horror.

He's able to see his enemy's moves, but not of his allies.

Until.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" He gasped and looked up to see Maki, all tattered in blood and bruises up at them. The spirits and even Getou looks up.

He smiles.

Getou asked in a sing song voice.

'WHAT?!'

"MAKI!!" Tamaki screams and the blades from the spirits cut into her. Her entire torso rips and blood gushes out before she drops her naginata that has also been cut in half.

Her unshaked expression falters and she looks down at Tamaki, all hopeless.

"F-Find Yuta a-a-and run.." She whispers before falling right in front of him. More crimson red spilling on the floor.

Tamaki looks in silence and Getou watches with amusement.

"Oh god, Maki! Maki, no!!!" He cries out in pain and that's when it happened. The curse energy around him surrounds and explodes, blowing his enemies away. His red eye pulsing even more and suddenly, he grows impeccable speed and runs to the spirits instead of Getou.

With one sword, he grabs it like a knife, holding onto its head before smashing it in their skull. The other spirits try to attack and grab him but he dodges with ease, flying up in the air before killing them as well.

"Oh my, someone's angry!" Getou chimes before putting his hand out.

"But your anger won't best me, Tamaki! Even if if somehow makes you stronger, right now!"

Suddenly, a whirlwind appears behind him.

Uzumaki.

A collection of more of his horrendous spirits coming together.

Tamaki doesn't care and immediately turns distracted at the sight of Maki bleeding out. He cries when he falls to his knees and sees her wounds. A big cut across the hip and it's almost ripping away from the rest of her body.

"No, no, no.." He whimpers, choking on his tears when her heart beat turns faint. "I-I can't lose you!"

He looks at her and thinks he can run away with her. But then there's Yuta, still awaiting in the classroom he thinks.

His red eye disappears.

He's become so hopeless as well.

'W-We're really going to die here, aren't we?' After his rampage, he feels weak and worn out. He holds Maki in his arms before trying to get up, but his ankles feel sore want to stay down.

Getou finds it all humorous.

"I think this is a more suited death. Dying with your loved ones in your arms..

Now do me a favor and die."

Uzumaki is initiated and when he thinks all the spirits he killed were the only ones in his inventory, a thousand comes out to welcome him.

Tamaki closes his eyes and surrenders, awaiting for his death next. But then he thought of the one person.

Yuta.

All left alone. He could not just give up.

He kisses Maki on the forehead before slowly letting her go and placing her on the floor. Tamaki gets up and picks up his swords.

He looks at the face of death with a grimace.

If he's going to die, he's going to die fighting.

"Come on then..bring it on.."

Fear pumping in his heart, hammering against the chest.

"Come on, come...!"

He screams and before he can fight, something comes between him.

His eyes widened at the sight of Rika, terrifying and scary appearance in his eyes. She screeches before charging right at her enemies, attacking them at one swoop.

Tamaki can't believe his eyes. He then hears footsteps and looks to see Yuta, a different person than he was minutes ago.

"Tamaki, it's okay..." He puts a hand on his shoulder,

"You don't have to fight anymore.." He whispers softly and looks at him, giving him a firm smile.

"Yuta..please, don't fight him-"