In a blackened void-
"Spiritual Awakening."
Yukie's voice resonated.
The darkness parted.
White and blue unfolded into existence, a vast, open sky beneath daylight. Below it stretched a seamless plane of crystal-clear water, mirroring the heavens perfectly.
A single droplet fell.
It struck the surface, sending faint ripples outward
then vaporized, dissolving into black ink that bled briefly before fading.
"It is a choice," Yukie continued calmly,
"to release one's spiritual essence."
Her voice carried no hesitation.
"It manifests only as power one requires- or is capable of sustaining.
Spiritual Awakening is not merely force."
The sky remained still.
"It is domination."
The air shifted.
"It is the act of declaring oneself to the world,
and forcing the world to acknowledge how powerful you are."
A pause. "However…"
The realm began to change.
The blue sky dimmed, bleeding into shades of violet. A soft yet oppressive aura flowed through the space, heavy and deliberate-coiling like intent made visible.
"An Awakening can become complex," she said,
"and… sinister."
The pressure deepened.
"To the point where it no longer reacts to the world-
but alters it."
Red hue emerged.
A second aura surged forth, crimson and violent, colliding against the violet presence. The two forces pushed, resisted, neither yielding.
"The stronger the Awakening," Yukie continued,
"the greater the pressure it exerts."
Her voice remained steady.
"And pressure is dominance."
The red and violet energies intertwined, grinding against one another as they flooded the space. Their colors intensified, binding the sky, the water, the horizon itself.
"If both are equal…"
The forces merged.
The world could no longer endure it.
Everything collapsed into darkness.
Silence.
"…then the one who dominates," Yukie concluded,
"will be the one whose surge rises higher."
Kiss X Reaper
Chapter 7 - Pink and Yellow, which one?
As the land continued to tremble, the forest itself seemed to drown in yellow light-beautiful, radiant… and utterly terrifying.
Trees bent beneath the weight of it.
The air burned with intent.
Vasilisa stood at the center of it all, her eyes sharpened into a deep, piercing yellow.
Amid that overwhelming pressure, Makoto remained.
His body began to vibrate violently as though his form were destabilizing, flickering at the edge of existence itself.
Then, The Ruiner Blade dissolved.
The katana reverted seamlessly back into its original form: a simple brown cane.
Vasilisa's brow twitched. Just slightly.
Makoto moved next.
He lowered himself to the ground.
His left leg extended flat.
His right leg bent, knee raised.
His left arm rested casually upon it, while his right hand remained on the standing cane.
He sat. Informal. Unbothered.
Meters away, Vasilisa stood wrapped in a surging, violent aura- while Makoto simply… remained seated.
Slowly, he closed his eyes.
"You never underestimated me," he said calmly.
"Nor did you overestimate yourself."
His voice was steady, unpressed by the crushing atmosphere.
"You were driven by pure interest. By curiosity."
A pause.
"And that is-"
He opened his eyes.
His irises ignited in soft, luminous pink.
"-commendable, Ms. Kira."
He whispered.
The world responded.
From her perspective, the surrounding around them as she saw him as only a dark figure.
"Spiritual Awakening"
His voice stated faintly.
The ground convulsed once more, far more violently than before. From beneath the forest floor, pink Natural Energy erupted, surging upward in vast waves, matching the scale of Vasilisa's spiritual awakening- then surpassing it.
The forest was engulfed.
Makoto remained seated at its center, enveloped by the storm of light as it roared around him.
Pink and yellow collided.
Natural Energy and Dark Energy clashed so violently that the sky itself fractured into cascading auroras of pink and gold tearing across the sky.
The pressure was unbearable.
For the first time, Vasilisa's body began to shake. A bead of sweat slid down the side of her face.
Her smile was gone. Only widened eyes remained-
staring at the man who had answered her awakening without ever standing up.
Then, The world went black once more.
"Splendid,"
her voice echoed softly through the void.
Her upper body suddenly bent forward. She brought both hands to her face, fingers digging in as her golden fans slipped from her grasp and clattered lifelessly onto the ground.
Her lips trembled.
Then slowly, they stretched. A grin formed.
Wide. Wrong.
Her eyes followed, widening inch by inch as something inside her broke open.
"Ha… ha…"
A breathy sound at first.
Then-
"Hahahahaha-!"
Laughter burst from her throat, distorted and unrestrained, echoing unnaturally as her Awakening swelled, expanding violently stronger, denser, more feral than before.
She snapped upright. Arms spread wide, chest lifted, face tilted toward the sky as if embracing the pressure itself.
"Splendid… interesting… marvelous…"
Her voice dropped to a whisper, reverent and unhinged.
"All… worthy…!"
Then, Silence.
Her posture relaxed. The frenzy vanished.
As though it had never existed. She turned back toward Makoto. Eyes closed, she wore a faint smile, calm, composed, unmistakably taunting.
"Interesting!"
she said lightly.
Her fingers rose to the side of her face, nails dragging slowly across her skin.
Red traced their path.
Blood slipped down her cheek, dripping from her fingertips as her hand lowered-
and she smiled as if it meant nothing at all.
Seeing this, Makoto narrowed his eyes, squinting slightly. His expression remained calm- but something beneath it had shifted, a faint unease settling in.
Then--
"—####—"
Static tore through the air without warning.
It was not loud. Not omnipresent. It was heard only by Vasilisa. She turned her gaze to the side, unhurried, the same faint smile still resting on her lips.
"—######—"
The noise twisted, distorted, until meaning surfaced beneath the interference.
"STOP WHATEVER YOU TWO ARE DOING. CONTINUE THIS, AND THE FORCE WILL TEAR THE LANDS APART."
The message ended as abruptly as it had begun.
For a moment, Vasilisa remained still.
Then, slowly, the yellow aura flooding the forest began to recede.
The surging energy withdrew back into the earth, strand by strand, as though being forcibly restrained. The violent tremors softened… then
faded entirely. Noticing this, Makoto was a bit surprised and did the same.
The ground stilled. The forest exhaled.
Silence returned.
After hearing the warning, Vasilisa slowly turned her gaze back to Makoto. An empty smile rested on her lips, unsettling, hollow, as though something behind her eyes had gone silent.
Then she tilted her head upward once more and exhaled deeply.
"Quite the unfair!" she shouted, her voice ringing across the clearing.
She bent down and retrieved her fans from the ground. The moment her fingers closed around them, the yellow glow receded, the weapons reverting into ordinary folding fans decorative, harmless in appearance.
While she complained, Makoto was already pushing himself up. He rose to his feet fully, his expression confused yet casual, a single bead of sweat sliding down the side of his head.
"…Sigh," Vasilisa let out again.
"Unfortunately," she continued lightly,
"my time is up, dear. I'll have to see you again next time. Quite a long time, I suppose." She placed a hand over her chest, feigning sorrow. "A very sad, long time."
She peeked at him sideways and smiled.
"Well anyway, my apologies for acting all strange and trying to kill you, monsieur. I'll fixate on your grace again next time."
She unfolded one fan and lifted it, covering half her face once more, fluttering it gently like a noblewoman at court.
"My all of one."
Dark yellow energy began to shimmer around her- no longer violent, but delicate. It took the form of glowing, glittering grains, like sand caught in moonlight. The particles wrapped around her body from the side, swallowing her silhouette piece by piece.
In the next breath, she was gone.
Only the yellow sand lingered, drifting silently in the air before fading into the night.
Makoto remained where he stood, eyes fixed on the empty space she had once occupied.
The forest was still now. No shaking ground, no clashing awakenings, only the faint night breeze brushing past the trees.
His expression didn't change. Confusion lingered, subdued and thoughtful.
"Could it have been... Sigh. Curiosity drives me nuts sometimes,"
he thought.
The camera slowly pulled away from him, rising past the treetops and into the open night sky. The pink and yellow aurora still remained and beautifully so.
For now, the conflict had ended.
Not resolved, but concluded.
End of Act I - A Dual Dance