Shadows Of The Past

Yukiko's voice echoed through the alley as she frantically called out to her teammate, "Kaito!!"

She raised her hand, and a wave of ice erupted, covering the wall beside her in thick ice.

Immediately she sprinted up the wall while running on the ice, the ice crunched beneath her feet.

She reached the roof and scanned the surrounding buildings, her gaze locking onto a dark puddle on a nearby rooftop.

She dashed towards the puddle. The wind whipped through her hair, and her eyes narrowed. As she drew closer, the puddle moved away.

Yukiko's voice rang out across the rooftops. "Give him back!!"

She jumped, clearing the gap between the two buildings. Her feet landed gracefully on the next rooftop, and she sprinted after the shadowy puddle which moved away from her extremely fast.

"I'm not letting you go!!" she exclaimed.

As she closed in on the puddle, Yukiko raised her hands,

"Icicle Barrage..." 

A flurry of sharp icicles materialized in the air around her, she sent the icicles raining down upon the shadowy puddle.

The puddle dodged and weaved, avoiding the icicles with ease.

One of the icicles found its mark, striking the puddle with a faint splash. But it just sank into the puddle

'What... It absorbed my attack?' Yukiko thought, 'I shouldn't be worrying about that now,'

'I have to catch it!'

'What will Kaito do?'

'I've got it!'

"Frost Glide" She exclaimed, and launched herself into the air. She ran on the air creating a trail of frost that instantly froze the terrain beneath her.

She closed in on the shadowy puddle with a swift dash.

"Kaito!"

Kaito's eyes fluttered open, he found himself in a dark, eerie realm. "Where am I?!" he exclaimed, his voice echoing off the unknown surroundings.

As he looked around, he sensed a presence behind him and spun around, his fists clenched.

Something dashed across his field of vision.

It struck him from behind, sending him crashing to the ground.

Kaito groaned as he struggled to his feet, the Spec appeared before him, its presence like a dark void.

It was an eerie, pitch-black, humanoid figure with no discernible features, covered entirely in darkness.

Kaito's eyes widened in fear. "Oh crap!!" he muttered, trying to punch it but getting hit from behind again. He stumbled forward.

"I can't see!" he cried out, his arms flailing.

The entity struck him again, and Kaito flew backward, crashing into a solid wall. He slid down the surface, dazed and confused. "Huh? There's a wall here?" he mumbled. "Which means... I'm in a room?!"

Meanwhile 

Yukiko's thought raced as she chased after the shadowy puddle. 'I need to drive it into the alley! But how?!'

'And it's almost night if it's a shadow! Then once it's night, it's too late!! I've have stop it now!"

Suddenly, a voice echoed in her mind.

'You're too weak!'

'You'll kill the one most valuable person to you!'

Yukiko's eyes widened in horror.

She stumbled, her feet faltering as it continued.

'He'll die because of you!'

' You're a failure as a teammate!"

"NO!" She fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

"No, no, no, no!!!!" she cried out, her voice shaking with fear.

The puddle moved further away. Yukiko's vision blurred as the voices continued. She couldn't move...

"I can't.. i can't let him..." Yukiko looked at the shadow moving further away

"Onn..."

A voice yelled 

'We need you!'

Her eyes widened at that sudden familiar voice,

"Kaito?!"

'I need you!"

Yukiko's eyes snapped back into focus,

"What am I doing?!"

"I can't let him die?!

"I just can't! He's my...!"

She jumped into the air, launching herself forward.

Yukiko yelled, "Icebound Prison!"

A glittering prison of solid materialized around the shadowy puddle, encasing it in a tomb of frozen crystal.

Yukiko's right hand dropped, and the ice prison crashed into an ally to the ground, shattering into a thousand shards that skittered across the pavement.

But the puddle remained trapped, engulfed in a block of ice.

Yukiko landed meters away from it and began to strode forward, her boots crunching on the frozen fragments.

She materialized her dual ice daggers, their blades shimmering a white glow.

Her eyes glowed white. "Now..." she whispered, her voice low and menacing. "Where is he?"

The ice seemed to tremble as if the puddle within was struggling to escape. 

Lightning illuminated the puddle as Kaito burst out of the Spec, shattering the ice prison with his Blade Tonfas.

He landed gracefully opposite Yukiko, his eyes locked on hers.

"Kaito..." Yukiko's voice was barely audible, her eyes stopped glowing.

"Yukiko, stay on guard! It's a dangerous Spec!" Kaito warned, his gaze darting to the creature in front of her.

The Spec's body began to take form, its dark mass roaring as it extended shadowy tendrils to ensnare them.

Yukiko snapped out of her trance.

As the tendrils closed in, Kaito sliced at them with his Blade Tonfas, while Yukiko froze those near her with a swift gesture.

But the Spec seemed relentless, pulling them closer to the darkness.

"It's weakness is the light!" Kaito shouted, his voice carrying above the chaos.

Yukiko's eyes widened. 'That doesn't make sense... unless...'

'Oh, I see!' she thought,

"The main body was inside, which means there's a realm within it!"

Yukiko dashed forward, the tendrils dashed towards her, but she does a jump, spinning through the tendrils.

She leapt into the shadow, disappearing into the darkness.

Kaito's said in disbelief, "Yukiko?! Is she nuts?!"

More shadowy specs emerged from the body. "It's multiplying itself?!" he exclaimed, his Tonfas crackling with electricity.

"Electro-Grapple Surge!" He yelled, he punched the first shadow spec with a shockwave, canceling it out.

He kicked the second, dispelling its darkness.

He ran to the last one and ducked, rising to give an uppercut, which destroyed the last shadow spec.

nKaito declared, "Now it's me versus you..."

The Shadow Spec let out a deafening screech, its pain echoing through the alley. 

Yukiko struck from within, her ice daggers stabbing deep into the Spec's core.

She jumped out of the shadow, landing gracefully on the pavement beside Kaito.

Her eyes locked onto the Spec

Yukiko said with a grin, "Thanks to your realm, I could finally do it... "

"Frozen Domain!"

Ice spikes burst forth from within the Spec, stabbing it from the inside out.

Yukiko dashed forward, her dual ice daggers in her hand as she took a mighty swing, aiming at the Spec's neck. "

Bingo!!" she exclaimed, delivering a bone-chilling strike on it.

It shattered into countless ice shards.

Yukiko's dual ice daggers disappeared, and she fell forward.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!!" Kaito exclaimed,

Kaito caught her, his arms wrapping around her waist, holding her close.

"Mission complete," Yukiko whispered.

 "You used too much Climax energy! Good job though...! You did it?!"Kaito said

 "Yeahhh..." She replied then she dozed off, .

Kaito smiled and carefully lifted her onto his back, giving her a piggyback ride as he began to leave the area.

Meanwhile, Koji watched from a building top. "Was it that weak?!" he muttered then nodded in satisfaction. "Whatever, my preparation here is complete, time to move!"

As Kaito carried Yukiko back to base, he noticed Misuki sleeping outside under a peculiar tree.

The tree had dead branches but slowly leaves began growing on it again.

Kaito's eyes widened in surprise. "Whoa!! How???"

He looked at Misuki, a hint of a smile on his face. "Maybe she did do some training today!" He carefully carried Misuki in his arms into the base, an apple began to grow from the tree.