"Arahi sword technique: earth spike!" A feminine voice cut through the air, and instantly, giant, stone-like spikes erupted from the ground, impaling and obliterating most of the remaining demons.
Rita landed gracefully amidst the scattered remains, her katana whirling in a breathtaking display of skill. With a single, swift sweep, she decapitated the remaining demons, her movents precise and deadly.
"Hey," she said, a cheerful smile gracing her lips, as though she’d just finished a casual stroll in the park.
"Hey," Kakashi replied, unsure how to respond to her lightheartedness given their dire circumstances. He wasn’t sure how to process this sudden shift in tone.
"Aren’t you happy to see ?" Rita asked, her smile widening into a cute, almost mischievous grin.
"I guess," Kakashi replied cautiously, his gaze shifting to the area behind her. "Where’s Kelvin? Isn’t he supposed to be with you?"
Rita’s cheerful deanor faltered; she visibly hesitated before speaking.
"Well... the thing is that... we kinda got separated," Rita explained, attempting a lighthearted tone that didn’t quite reach her eyes. "We were chasing a demon, I fell down, and before I could stand up, he was gone. I tried calling out to him, but there was no response. Then I saw a giant snake and decided to follow it until I got here."
_The room must have switched,_ Kakashi mused, observing Rita’s slightly flustered state. _She doesn’t seem as bad as I thought._
"Whatever demon created this domain is trying to keep us separated and deal with us one by one," Kakashi observed, his voice serious. "I guess splitting up was a really bad idea after all."
"What do we do now?" Rita asked, her cheerful facade replaced by a look of genuine concern.
Kakashi turned to the exit, his gaze resolute. "That’s the only way out," he declared. "We should find Kelvin first, then get the hell out of here!" He grasped her hand, pulling her along.
"The rooms keep switching, making it hard to navigate. Breaking the walls or windows won’t change anything. So, the easiest way is to find a way out first, break the domain from the outside—"
"Then we can co back inside and find Kelvin," Rita finished, her voice showing a renewed sense of determination. "I just hope he’ll be okay until then."
Rita observed Kakashi, noticing the injuries on his right arm. "You’re hurt," she said, pointing to the wounds. "Sit down; I’ll cover them up for you."
Rita reached into a pouch tied around her waist and produced a bandage. She sat in front of Kakashi, gently holding his arm, and carefully wrapped the bandage around the injured area, her movents both precise and tender.
"You really don’t have to," Kakashi said, his voice slightly embarrassed by her concern.
"Of course, I do. If we leave it open, it might get infected. We already have a demon on our hands; I don’t want to add another one to it," Rita explained, a strand of her dark brown hair falling from behind her ears. She tucked it behind her ear with a delicate touch.
_She’s beautiful,_ Kakashi thought, captivated by her unexpected gentleness. He found himself staring at her. Rita looked up, noticing his gaze, and returned a smile.
"All done!" Rita announced cheerfully. "I’m sorry for not bringing any healing talismans."
"It’s okay," Kakashi said, rising and offering her his hand to help her up. "Let’s get out of here."
"Hmm..." Rita nodded, accepting his help and following him toward the exit.
They opened the door to find themselves in a storage room. They opened another door and found themselves on the roof. They continued their seemingly futile search, opening doors that led to random locations until they finally found themselves back in the main hallway.
Kakashi strode down the hallway, his eyes scanning the surroundings, his expression one of intense focus. The hallway seed to stretch endlessly before them.
The hallway seed endless, but Kakashi pressed forward, his pace relentless. Rita wanted to ask what he was looking for but decided against it, sensing his deep concentration.
"Right here!" Kakashi exclaid, sliding to a halt in front of the door where he’d left his sword. He looked up; the sign above the door still read Infirmary.
"What?" Rita stopped, her eyes falling upon the sword embedded in the doorfra. "A sword?"
Kakashi grasped the handle, pulling the sword free and opening the door. A staircase leading downwards was revealed.
"How did you do that?" Rita asked, her voice filled with astonishnt.
"You an how I knew?" Kakashi asked, a smirk playing on his lips. "Well, it’s simple. The demon trapped us in a domain, and we assud it was either changing rooms or using illusions, but it was neither. It was simply teleporting us to different places in the building."
"How can you tell?" Rita asked, her face expressing genuine confusion.
"I’ve been running experints since we arrived," Kakashi explained. "The domain might look like it’s switching rooms, but it’s not. When we first got separated, every door I opened led to a random room—even if I opened the sa door repeatedly, it was still random. This ans the demon doesn’t have control over where we end up. Each opening is a portal, another room. The one leading outside won’t open, which is why the window wouldn’t break earlier. No matter what, this is still a domain, so all I did was find a way downstairs and create a hole in it."
"I think I get it," Rita said slowly, her expression finally revealing a glimr of understanding. "You infused your own Karma energy into the sword and stuck it to the door—that way, the domain wouldn’t affect that spot. Smart!"
"But it’s not going to stay like this forever. Let’s find the next exit, then break the domain from outside," Kakashi said, his eyes focused on the task ahead.
They ran down the stairs and along the hallway. Rita suddenly stopped, halting Kakashi in his tracks.
"What’s wrong? Why did you stop?!" Kakashi asked, his voice edged with impatience.
Rita looked around for a mont before speaking. "We’ve been here before."
"What?!" Kakashi exclaid, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"I said, we’ve been here before!" Rita insisted. "This is where Kelvin and I got separated. This is the first floor."
"What?! You an we weren’t on the second floor before?" Kakashi said, his shock palpable. "If this is the first floor, that ans when I climbed the stairs, I was teleported to the third floor instead!"
"Then what should we do now?" Rita asked, her voice laced with concern.
"Finding a way down will be almost impossible," Kakashi said thoughtfully. "So, we should look for Kelvin first, then find a way out. If we find the staircase first, then we’ll head out."
"Okay!" Rita agreed.
"But opening a door might be dangerous since we don’t know what floor we’ll end up on. We need a way to know if we’re going up or down," Kakashi said, considering their limited options.
"I know!" Rita pulled out her sword and plunged it into the ground. "Arahi sword technique: sixth sense."
Silence fell as Rita held her sword to the ground, her eyes closed, her senses attuned to the surrounding energy.
"Fifth door to the right," she announced, her voice clear and precise.
"Right!" Kakashi sprinted to the door, throwing it open to reveal a staircase leading down. "This is it—the stairs!"
"Let’s go while it’s still there!" Rita exclaid, rising to her feet. They both started down the stairs, their hopes renewed, only to stop halfway down.
"Tomo!!!" Kakashi cried out, rushing to the young man lying on the stairs, his uniform soaked in blood, his left hand severed, a gaping wound in his stomach.
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