"You want to have a Tsukugo?" Bill sounded pleasantly surprised hearing his niece say that.

"What's wrong with that?" She frowned as Sarah crossed her legs.

"Nothing, I'm just surprised. You're usually quite adverse about the idea."

"Let's just say I changed my mind, Uncle," she pouted.

The blonde chuckled, "I can tell. As for the other two from Ben's place, tell him that Buttercup will go to Hana. He's been wanting someone to train. As for Bubbles... I would send her to Keita or Jinpei."

"But Jinpei's not a Hashira?"

"He may as well be, what with all the demons he's befriended. Bakera, Goromi, Bluepon, Mikettio... Should I go on?"

"You have a point," she conceded. "But he'll be participating in the final selection right?"

"He's agreed to have the test to become a Hashira during that selection," Bill answered. "And personally, I would want him to give a name for each of the individual styles he's made with those four. That's what I'm planning to ask him to do once the selection is over."

"Sounds like a plan," Sarah smiled, and her thoughts wandered to the person she would deny ever considering as an older brother. "I wonder how Keita's holding up on his end. He's been busy hunting down demons, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "But Keita's original Breath Style won't last. I kept on asking him to switch to Moon Breathing like Taeyang, but he refuses, saying that Taeyang deserves it when we all know that the Moon Breathing had a bad side effect on Taeyang, and he's better off working with Master V. Sometimes I wish that people like Keita and Taeyang weren't so stubborn."

"Peta Bread is just that," Sarah fondly spoke. "You get used to it."

"I wish I wasn't," he groaned.

She laughed, amused by this, "But anyway, I think that Keita should just revert back to the Alchemist Breath Style. It suits him better. And Taetae should stop using a Style that is slowly killing him. He worries me to death at times."

"That only has 3 forms, Sarah," Bill reminded her gently. "And you know how Keita feels about it. Also, Taeyang hates relying on people, and while he treasures his friendship with Master V, he doesn't want to direct any more hate onto him."

"They should stop moping around and just do what they're good at."

"Exactly."

The two just sighed in unison, too exhausted to even say a word about the two.

"But anyway, Steven and Ryder are heading back soon, so the preparations for the attack on the demons' hideout should be ready in a week or so."

"The Supernatural Extermination Squad? You're bringing them all together?" Sarah blinked.

"We'll need it. While Adeline Bellum is a horrifying threat, you and I know that Ben's begun his move. Why else would he station Taeyang's family near the Seaside Mansion?"

"You have a point. We need to be ready. If he wins this war..."

"The world will end," Bill nodded. "And there's no going back for Ben."

Sarah's fists tightened, "No way. I fucking refuse to let him fall like those motherfucking birth parents of mine."

"Same here," Bill nodded. "We're going to save him, Sarah. We won't let him fall."

"We better not," Sarah got up. "Let's do this."

"Ah," he agreed.
~~~~
"This is fucking useless!" Blossom yelled as she tried to keep her pose stable.

"If you can't do that, you won't be able to win," Pilseung frowned.

"We learnt that the hard way," Master V nodded. "So do the f*cking thing already!"

Blossom decided that Master V was way worse than Sarah due to how exhausted she was. Ever since Sarah left, Master V had put her up to martial arts. But he didn't have her attack people. Nope, it was far worse. He had made her STAY in that position for a long while, and every single time her joints felt like they were about to burst. Pilseung had stayed while Taeyang and Jinpei headed off to get ready for the selection, since he also specialised in martial arts.

"This is ridiculous!" She huffed back.

"It's not," Pilseung shook his head. "Trust me on this."

Violet eyes met her own orbs, and she sighed, but didn't let up.

Now that his boyfriend wasn't around, Blossom had actually begun spending time with Oh Pilseung, who was partnered to other special demons, and it was from there that she had learnt that Pilseung's mom had been a Breath Style User who moved her family to Japan from Korea after Demonseu's defeat. His dad had died in the Unicorn War a century ago or so, when the demons Master V had been the integration of, Speed, Monster, and Tactician, fought against Demonseu and lost. While he had only found out after Demonseu's defeat and his mom and friend's deaths, it had only fueled his desire to put an end to demons like Upper Moon One and the Demon Queen, no matter what.

And to say that she wasn't amazed by that would be a lie. She still had her reservations about him being friends with demons, but she had begun to understand why the two acted the way they did. They had lost so much, and yet had used it as fuel to fight for what they considered to be right.

"Maybe we should stop now, Master V," Pilseung frowned.

Master V looked at her, and rose his eyebrow. Blue irises stared into her eyes, as if asking about her willingness to stop.

She bit her lip, yet shook her head, "No, I can keep going."

As she started to focus on staying calm, doing the breathing exercises he had taught her, Pilseung and Master V shared a smile.

"I'll let the others know she's ready for the final selection," Pilseung told the demon as he walked away.

"You do that and drag Taeyang to sleep once you're done," he called out.

"Will do!"

As he left, Master V walked over and said, "You can stop now. That's enough for today."

Relieved of that, Blossom slumped onto the icy ground, feeling the cool ice soothing her sore legs.

"You usually push yourself back at the Seaside Mansion, so what makes it different here?" Master V asked her.

She frowned, "Obviously it's because of you and Sarah!"

"But Ben Utonium is usually strict," Master V reasoned. "Is it because you are not used to being in the element of your Breath Style?"

"No sh*t Sherlock," she mumbled.

"But you have improved, I'll give you that," he said. "You've beaten Sarah, but if you truly want to repent of your sins, you'll need to fight something who is unlike your idea of demons."

"You mean yourself?" She rose her eyebrow.

"Yes," he nodded, sliding into a battle stance. "Are you up for a battle?"

"Of course!" She nodded and got her weapon out.

The battle itself was harsh. He didn't hesitate to pull out all the stops. Blossom had sustained injuries from it, and she doubted that it would be the last.

However, she remembered what she was fighting for, and fought back furiously, managing to injure him as well. In the battle, she felt calm, serene, logical. She could predict his moves and counter them well.

At the end of the battle, with Master V's win, Blossom fell to the ground. Her breathing was heavy, and her heart was racing.

What was this nice feeling?

She let out a croaky laugh. She felt peaceful. Happy.

Master V had helped her find some sort of outlet for her emotions. Wow, she hadn't realised that demons could be nice. She was really grateful for this opportunity.

For the first time since she was orphaned, Blossom Utonium felt content.

"I see that you've grown a lot," Master V got up, dusting himself off. Under the moonlight, he seemed so... human, as if he could be one himself and Blossom would be none the wiser. A smile played on his lips as he held his hand out, "Great job, Blossom."

"I-I didn't do much, but thanks," she gave a smile as she took his hand and let him pull her up. "For this training and for yelling at me."

"I do apologise for that," Master V frowned slightly. "I was a bit... agitated. The air around here had been tense for a while, and I let it out on you."

"I needed that lecture more than I thought I did," she laughed sheepishly. "So it's cool."

"Friends then?" He asked her, a smile on his face.

She thought about it, but nodded as she said, "Friends."
~~
The day for the final selection was here, and it meant that Blossom would leave the arctic tundra.

Before she left, she took out the pin Bubbles had given her, and looked at the mirror.

She gave herself a confident smile, and clipped it onto her hair, allowing her long bangs to be held back.

It felt... nice. Like she wasn't held back by her past anymore. Like the guilt had left, leaving only a roaring fire that desired to bring down Upper Moon One and the Demon Queen with all the people she had met in her journeys.

"That looks really pretty on you," Taeyang's voice made her turn around to see the Moon Hashira leaning on the wall, a smile on his face.

"Thanks," she answered. "We should get going shouldn't we?"

"Yeah. Everyone is waiting for you. Mustn't keep them waiting, right?" Taeyang laughed.

"Totally," she nodded, and they walked out together.

Master V gave her a warm hug, and he was actually crying a bit as he told her not to forget him, even though an exasperated Taeyang kept on reminding him that he was coming back with them, even resorting to giving him a flick on the head to get him to snap out of it. That made Blossom snicker a bit, but soon she was gripping Taeyang's hand, closing her eyes as he began to teleport them.

She was ready. The final selection was here, and she wasn't about to screw it up. She would make it, not only for herself, but for all those who believed in her.

That was her swear.

-
This chapter was written by FictionalMagicTamer