Hello everyone! This is the second and final chapter of that Kana's birthday arc thing, and I'm sure you know what this means! The real action is finally starting! Reviews and favorites are appreciated! Thank you for reading and have a nice day!

This was, undoubtedly, bad news. My hands tingled like I'd just stuck my fingers in a light socket, and I was aware of how hard my fingers were digging into the straps of my bag. I cursed myself for not having brought my sword with me – only to remember that it was with Grandmother.

Damn it!

The stairwell creaked. At the top, appeared a huge mirror. Its frame was a deep shade of purple, and its arms and legs had been replaced by curling tendrils of smoke. For a mouth – no, scratch that. It didn't have a mouth; just jagged pieces of teeth like broken glass. Its eyes gleamed, flickering from a hazy grey to a bright, malicious red. I wished it would make up its mind already. That wasn't the worst part. It looked like a scary bobble-head doll, with a huge head and the tiny body of a lion. "Are you finished with your whole cliché horror movie routine thing?" I demanded, rifling through my bag for my pouch of shikigami.

The yokai cackled. "Didn't you like it?"

"It's tacky, and overdone, so no." I retorted, pulling my supplies out. "And what was all that crap about Kana?"

"It's Kana-chan's birthday today! And I've come for her!"

"Come for-" I trailed off, my face turning pale as reality sank in. "You mean… You're gonna kill her?!"

For a yokai with a glass face, he didn't have to try hard to convey his maliciousness. "How on earth did you guess?"

Great. A snarky Yokai - just what I needed. As if I didn't have enough to deal with already.

I pressed my back to the wall.

"I know you." I lied. I frantically ran down my mental list of Yokai, trying to place this one. I wasn't Yura. I didn't have her photographic memory. But after poring over volume after volume of ancient, dusty scrolls in the family library, I'd gotten better.

Names held power. If I could figure out its name, that was half the battle won. A mirror…. Purple cursed mirror…

To my amazement, I actually remembered something.

"Aha! You're that cursed mirror!" I cried triumphantly. "Ungaykiddo, is it?"

The mirror snarled. "Ungaikyo!"

Alright, so I was close.

"You take people away once they look into you. And they all end up dead. Is that what you've done to Kana?" I demanded, hearing the roar of my blood in my ears.

"No, not yet. Soon." It promised, and there was no doubt in my mind that it was not fooling around.

Yokai rarely possessed a sense of humor.

"Goodbye." I said, and darted down the stairs.

Ungaikyo didn't try to stop me, cackling with laughter as I went. "Hide-and-seek, is it? Then let's play!"

I had to find Kana. She was – to put it bluntly - useless, and without a weapon or training, she was a sitting duck.

"Kana!" I yelled, my voice a hoarse whisper. "KANA!"

I sped down the hallway, hugging corners and dashing past empty classrooms which spilled light out onto the ground. My fear urged me on, and I forced myself to quicken the pace even as my legs and muscles protested at the effort.

"Kana!" I called out, louder this time, desperation ringing out in every syllable.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a flicker of something that might have been movement. Cautiously, I glanced inside. It was a toilet. A boy's toilet.

"Kana!" I exclaimed again, in relief this time, bolting the door behind me and rushing into the room.

The first thing that hit me was the smell; the second was Kana, who launched herself into my arms, sobbing her heart out.

"Ah! Okay, okay, I get it. You were scared. But it's okay, now, really." I tried to sound comforting as I rubbed her back soothingly, all the while as Kana continued to blubber on about how scared she'd been, and how glad she was to see me.

"Okay, okay. I won't let that thing hurt you, I promise." I patted her head, and pushed her away, the front of my shirt damp from the tears that continued to stream from her wide brown eyes.

I rummaged through my leather pouch, desperately taking inventory. Chalk, the heads of Keikain, plasters, gauze, antiseptic cream, bandages, 4 pieces of shikigami…

"Okay, this is where we make our last stand."

"Oh, no, no, no." Kana's voice had gone squeaky and her grip on my arm was cutting off my circulation. She was terrified.

Good. So was I.

"There's no other choice." I reasoned. "If you're right, Ungaikyo will find us eventually. There's no use running. He obviously controls this dimension. We'll have to fight to get out."

I took a deep breath, and handed Kana the chalk and the statues of the four most powerful Keikain heads.. "Put the statues at the four cardinal points. The order doesn't matter. And draw a circle connecting the statues with the chalk. Hurry."

I narrowed my eyes in the Keikain glare, and this time, she worked, hastily doing as I asked. As soon as the circle was complete, a golden light flared up. Okay. Problem one solved. But now, I was left with the biggest problem: I had no weapon. An explosion wouldn't kill this yokai.

Was this the end?

Then my mother's voice came back to me, a soft warm lilt clear inside my ear as if she stood beside me. "No. It's not a dead end. Never give up. There is always a way out."

A way out… A dangerous gamble, but I had to try…

"Alright." I said aloud, to no one in particular. "I'll do it."

"Huh?" Kana was bewildered. "Do what?"

In response, I pulled out my pencil case, unzipped it, and grabbed a ballpoint pen.

Perfect.

"Here goes nothing," I pressed the nib of the pen onto the bare skin of my ankle, and began to write.

I thought of shapes, lines curlicues; saw the perfect script inked onto shikigami – an ancient and perfect language, embodiments of a language too faultless for speech. The pen moved across my skin, burning like a red-hot brand had been pressed against my skin. I guided the pen, inking out the kanji for strength, speed and agility on to my skin, biting my bottom lip to keep from crying out.

The pain ebbed as I finished, and I realised that my pen had melted, turning into nothing more than a lump of molten plastic. I tossed it aside with a grimace, and wobbled drunkenly to my feet, just as Ungaikyo appeared with a hiss of smoke.

"Stay in the circle," I commanded, my breath catching in my throat, as I clamoured out of it.

"What? But then what are you going to –"

I spread my arms out, blocking the yokai from advancing any further. "Stop."

"Or else what?" It sneered.

"Last chance to back off. Don't make me your enemy." My voice was soft, but the resolve in it was real.

"A good last effort, child," Ungaikyo snarled. "But you have nothing left. Kana-chan's death will be swift. Yours, I fear, will not!"

I felt a rush of anger bloom inside me like a poisonous flower. If he had managed to pull both me and Kana into this dimension, what was stopping him from doing it to the rest of my classmates? They were innocent, didn't know anything about Yokai. And I would not let this hideous mirror kill them.

"So you wanna play with me? Big mistake." I snapped, kicking out with my feet and sweeping its four legs out from under the bulk of its body.

Ungaikyo shrieked as it went down, with all the force of a felled tree. I only had a few seconds to act. The timing would be tight, but I was sure I could handle it.

I'm light, I told myself, light as an arrow winging its way through the air, swift and unstoppable. This would be easy… Provided the words on my ankles worked.

Pushing that oh-so-cheerful thought to the back of my mind, I jumped, whirling and spinning through the air. For a moment, I felt myself hang suspended, free of everything - then gravity took over, and I found myself plunging towards the floor.

"I'm a dark horse – and don't you underestimate me!" I cried, thoroughly enjoying the way Ungaikyo's eyes widened – right as the heel of my right foot smashed through its mouth, effectively silencing it forever.

Oops.

Instinctively, I threw up my hands to shield my face and eyes as shards of glass rained down upon me. I had expected the yokai to dissolve like the others had done once they were killed, but this one didn't. Luckily, my sweater was a wool blend, and absorbed most of the impact, but my bare legs were left to suffer the consequences.

I sighed, watching the scene dissolve and blur like water running down a window. Finally. He had been one persistent bastard.

Somehow, I wasn't at all surprised to find another Yokai waiting for us when we reappeared in school.

"Nicely done." The Ayakashi grinned at me, and my stomach flipped over like I had done just minutes ago.

"You were there the whole time." It wasn't a question but a statement.

"Not exactly the whole time." He corrected me. "Just towards the end, where you flew ten feet into the air. I would have stepped in, but –" He shrugged his shoulders. "– You didn't need any help."

I would've loves to kick his teeth in with my new-found strength, but something told me that a blushing and starry-eyed Kana - all traces of her sobs and tears gone – would not take kindly to this.

Great. She had a crush on the jackass. That totally hot and cocky jackass.

Snap out of it!

Instead, I slapped my hand against the shield to dispel it, and Kana tumbled out, looking startled.

"Kindly see her home." I growled out through gritted teeth, picking up my bag from the ground and kicking the toilet door open.

Even before the door slammed shut, his laughter followed me all the way home.

Ass-hat.

I so should've kicked him when I had had the chance!