Beyond the great torii gate, the man in the black cloak—Thanatos—halted as if pushed back by an invisible wall. "[angry]W-why can't I enter...?!" Thanatos raised his fist and pounded against the barrier again and again. The air shuddered dully—thud, thud. But his fists merely bounced back uselessly, as if striking thick rubber. Rei gently lowered Tsukasa onto the stone paving behind her. He still hadn't regained consciousness. But his chest rose and fell faintly. (*He's alive... thank goodness.*) Rei bit her lip and faced forward. The front of her miko robes, soaked with sweat and grime, had come loose, and her collarbone caught the moonlight. In her hands, the ofuda she held began to glow faintly with spiritual power once more. "[cold]That's far enough. You won't take one more step." *Crackle.* The air trembled. Looking up, she saw a pitch-black haze swirling at the very top of the great torii gate. What had begun as a tiny speck swelled rapidly, taking on human form. Long, pale purple hair. Odd eyes—crimson on the right, gold on the left. Dark markings ran across his lips and fingertips, gleaming eerily as though drinking in the moonlight. "[cold]Eros...!" A chill ran down Rei's spine. Eros, his androgynously beautiful face bearing a faint smile, gazed down from atop the torii gate at the shrine grounds—no, at *her*. "[laughing]How amusing." His voice didn't travel through the air—it seemed to resonate directly inside her head. "[laughing]I wish to ascertain the flavor of this new flame of yours." Eros leapt lightly down from the torii gate. But his feet never touched the stone paving. He hovered at the very edge of the shrine grounds—right on the boundary line of the barrier—as if standing on an invisible floor. "[cold]So the barrier cannot fully repel me... No matter. This is close enough." "[angry]Thanatos! Strike the barrier's weak point! Force your way through with sheer power!" As if answering that voice, Thanatos let out a roar from beyond the great torii gate. "[angry]UOOOOOOH!!" *BOOM!* The entire barrier shuddered violently. Thanatos had begun hurling his entire body against it, pouring all his spiritual power into the assault. "[scared]...Tch!" Rei clicked her tongue. Eros in front of her. Thanatos behind her, about to break through the barrier at any moment. (*Two fronts...!*) Rei didn't look back. She only glanced at Tsukasa, collapsed at the base of the sacred tree. "[whispers]...I will protect you. Absolutely." That small murmur, stronger than anyone's, made the very air of the shrine grounds tremble. —In that instant. "[cold]Love is something to be cultivated." Eros spread both arms wide atop the boundary line. The dark markings on his fingertips began to pulse with light. "[cold]Your affections, your jealousy, your rampages. All of it—cultivated by me, to be savored by me." Eros's odd eyes gleamed uncannily. "[cold]That flame is still mine." —Emotion Amplification Ability, full release. *Bwooooom...* A heavy, murky wave emanated from Eros's entire body. The air of the shrine grounds warped, and the leaves of the sacred tree rustled all at once. It tried to force its way directly into the depths of Rei's chest. (*That sensation... it's the same as back at the abandoned factory...!*) Rei clenched her teeth. Eros's power amplified human desire hundreds of times over. Her feelings for Tsukasa, her jealousy, her possessiveness—they should have swelled with violent intensity, threatening to burn her reason to ashes— —or so it should have been. "[surprised]...Huh?" Nothing happened. Deep in her chest, the wave of amplification vanished with a hiss, like a drop of water hitting a hot iron plate. No. It wasn't the flame of amplified desire. Something purer, a far stronger heat source, was burning quietly at the very center of Rei's heart. —*I want Tsukasa to live. I want to protect him.* That alone had become her core. "[surprised]What... is this?" For the first time—the smile vanished from Eros's expression. He furrowed his brow and stared at his own palm. Something was wrong. There was no response. In that moment— *CRASH!!!* A grating sound, like shattering glass, echoed across the shrine grounds. "[angry]UOOOOOH!! I'm in!!" Thanatos had finally forced his way through the barrier and stepped onto the shrine grounds. His massive frame stomped onto the stone paving, sending tremors through the earth. "[angry]First, that little girl! Prepare yourself!" Thanatos charged straight at Rei. "[cold]As if I'd let you!" Rei took one of the ofuda in her hand and slammed it with all her might onto the stone paving at her feet. *FWOOSH!* A ring of flame spread outward, centered on the ofuda. A barrier line. The moment Thanatos's foot touched that line— "[surprised]Gwah!? It's hot...!" Thanatos shrieked and leapt back. His foot had been engulfed by the barrier line's flames, and the hem of his black cloak was ablaze. "[panting]Hahh... hahh..." But Rei was also out of breath. The recoil from using so much spiritual power at once made her knees tremble uncontrollably, and her vision began to blur. (*Still... still, I have to stand...*) "[laughing]Is that all?" Having shaken off the flames, Thanatos wore an eerie grin. Then, slowly, he reached out a hand toward Rei. "[cold]Your struggles end here. I shall claim all of your spiritual power." His hand was about to touch Rei's shoulder—at that moment. "U-uaaah...!" A hoarse cry rose from the base of the sacred tree. Tsukasa, covered in blood, had begun to move, crawling forward, and seized Thanatos's ankle firmly with both hands. "[surprised]W-what...!?" "[whispers]Let go... of Rei-san...!" Powerless, wounded hands. Yet the pure force of will emanating from those hands resonated with the barrier line's flames. *Bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt!* Bolts of light, like static electricity, raced across Thanatos's entire body. "[scared]I-impossible... I can't... absorb spiritual power...!?" "[angry]Now!" Rei readied all her remaining ofuda. "[angry]MARS SNIPER!!" Flaming arrows were loosed in rapid succession. They pierced Thanatos's chest, his shoulder, his arm, blasting his massive body all the way behind the sacred tree. *BOOOOOM!!* Thanatos crashed into the wall of the shrine office, and a mountain of rubble collapsed. "[angry]Not yet... not yet...!" Thanatos tried to crawl out from the rubble. Rei hurled her final ofuda at his forehead. *Slap.* The ofuda stuck to Thanatos's forehead as if suctioned on. "[cold]Evil spirit, begone." *FWOOSH!!!* A near-pure white-orange flame of purification engulfed Thanatos's entire body. "[crying]By a mere... natural-born brat...! By such a..." —*Clink.* As if in time with that anguished cry, the wind chime hanging from a branch of the sacred tree rang out with a clear, cool note. With exquisite timing, as if the gods themselves were laughing. "[whispers]...Shrines really are terrifying, aren't they." Still sprawled on the ground, Tsukasa murmured absently. "[angry]You're saying that NOW!? You were nearly dead just a moment ago, you know!?" Rei's face flushed bright red. But before her shout had finished echoing, Thanatos's body turned to black dust and vanished, dissolving into the wind. —Silence. Only the wind blew through the shrine grounds. "[serious]...I see. Magnificent." Atop the boundary line, Eros slowly applauded. But his eyes were not smiling. "[cold]So that man was the key." "[sarcastic]That's right." Rei stared straight at Eros. She was nearing the limits of her stamina. Her breathing was ragged, her knees were shaking. But—her voice alone rang out with strength. "[serious]Your power made me realize it. That the feeling of loving someone makes a flame burn the brightest." Rei crossed the ofuda in both hands. She focused her consciousness on the pure heat source deep within her chest. "[serious]My feelings of love might have been cultivated by you. But—" The ofuda began to emit a phosphorescent glow. "[angry]The one who made them real was ME!!" —Mars Love Passionate Flame! The moment Rei shouted, a near-pure white-orange flame spread outward in a massive ripple, centered on the sacred tree. *FWOOSH!!!* The wave of flame burned away every last trace of Eros's emotion amplification energy, then swallowed Eros himself. "[surprised]Nguuuh...!?" The black haze enveloping Eros's body was purified by the flames and vanished piece by piece. The form of the androgynously beautiful young man began to flicker with static-like distortion in places. "[crying]I-impossible... defeated... by the very love I amplified...?" Eros's face contorted—with pain, and more than that, with an unfamiliar "agitation." "[crying]An ending... like this...!" For the first time, Eros took a step backward. Behind him, a pitch-black rift leading to the Shadow World opened. "[cold]If you're coming back, then come." Rei didn't pursue him. She simply leaned her back against the sacred tree and declared quietly. "[cold]The result will be the same." "—Remember this." With those final words, Eros vanished into the rift. The rift slowly closed, and the heavy air that had hung over the shrine grounds lifted, growing light. Silence. Only the rustle of the sacred tree's leaves in the wind and the distant sound of insects remained in the world. —*Slide.* The sliding door of the shrine office opened. An old man in white robes—Kazuo—stepped wordlessly down onto the shrine grounds. His stern face moved slowly, taking in the traces of rubble, then Rei and Tsukasa. And without a word, he placed a large, gnarled hand on Rei's head. "[gentle]...You did well." That was all he said. "[crying]...Grandpa..." Tears spilled from Rei's eyes. Everything that had been stretched taut until now began to loosen all at once. "We're carrying that boy inside. Lend a hand." Kazuo shifted his gaze to Tsukasa, collapsed on the ground, and supported Rei's shoulder. Laid out on the veranda, Tsukasa looked up at Rei through hazy consciousness and opened his blood-caked mouth. "[whispers]...You're beautiful." Rei's miko robes, damp with sweat from the afterheat of the purification flames, were translucent in the moonlight, revealing the lines of her collarbone and shoulders. "[angry]You are on absolute bed rest!! Even if you die, stay in bed!!" Rei shouted back, her face bright red. But—her voice was trembling, and not scary at all. --- —A few days later. Behind the main hall of Hikawa Shrine. At the base of the sacred tree, the two of them sat side by side. Thanks to Kazuo's treatment, Tsukasa had recovered enough to walk, though he still needed a crutch. Rei was in her usual miko robes, her hands resting on her lap, clenched tightly together. Silence continued for a while. The leaves of the sacred tree rustled softly in the wind. "[whispers]...What I'm about to say..." Rei spoke as if wringing the words out. "[serious]It has nothing to do with Eros's power. These are my own words." Tsukasa silently gazed at Rei. His dull silver eyes were far more earnest and gentle than usual. Rei gently took Tsukasa's hand, still healing from its injuries. "[crying]...I love you." Tears spilled over. "[crying]Wanting to protect you—that was my true love. I understood it for the first time when I heard your voice at that factory." "[sad]...Rei-san." Tsukasa's eyes widened slightly. "[serious]I've... always loved you too." Tsukasa said it quietly, but clearly. "[serious]I was just... too scared to say it." In the next moment, their lips met. This time was different. No amplification, no rampage, no power involved. It was a kiss chosen by their own will. The long, long—yet fleeting—kiss ended, and Rei, with trembling hands, drew Tsukasa's hand to the front fold of her miko robes. "[whispers]Tonight... I won't run away." Tsukasa's throat bobbed with a gulp. His