We have now passed the original amount of chapters from the first rendition of this story! I'm so happy I revised ICBH, it scratched an itch I've had for years. There is a lot of new content coming up so I hope you enjoy!

I dropped down, narrowly missing the demon's attack above me. I skirted around, assessing my surroundings. We were in the midst of battle, and everyone was feeling the effects of fatigue. We were called to exorcise a hospital, and unlike our last mission, the building was only recently vacated. These demons repopulated at such a staggering rate that we theorize that they'd only popped up about a week ago. They fed off of the negative energy of the patients and their loved ones. Also in contrast to our last mission, these demons could not fly. Instead the clung to every object, crawling over the walls and floor and hanging from the ceiling. They resembled trolls, with their patchy hair and humanized forms. They're short stature made them agile, though. And a single touch would get us infected with miasma, not horribly so, however, but enough to cause pain and render you useless in battle. For this reason, the aria's in our group made a circle around us, creating a forcefield to keep the demons at bay.

We weren't the only group here, either. The second and third year classes were on the mission, as well. Due to their experience, they took on far more challenging areas like the Intensive Care Unit and Emergency Room. We were currently in the Geriatric Unit, and the amount of walkers and wheelchairs I'd nearly fallen over was staggering. If I wasn't careful, I'd find myself using one after this mission.

"Rin, behind you!" I whirled around, my kurikara poised and ready. I turned just in time to slash through the demon before it could sink it's claws into my thigh. I shouted my thanks to Shima, who had warned me and turned back to the edge of the forcefield. Kamiki-chan's familiars were outside of the ring, tackling demons left and right. Kuro was also out there, somewhere, but I couldn't spot him. A horde of demons pressed against the forcefield and I saw the barrier buckle in response. The incantation could only handle so much pressure, and every once in awhile, trolls would push through. That was a problem, because the sheer amount of them made it difficult to keep your head on a swivel. I swung at them, my sword passing through the transparent field without issue and striking the creatures. They imploded on themselves, screeching as they evaporated.

I glanced upwards, seeing dozens of trolls as they climbed across the ceiling and fell on top of our containment. They ricocheted and bounced down to the floor, where the rioted at the edges of the zone. I attacked them, my muscles crying out for a break. We've been here for hours, and while most of the hospital had been exorcised, we needed to bear down. The rate of their repopulation left no wiggle room, we had to do this right the first time or we'd find ourselves back here tomorrow as well. We'd already be exhausted for school tomorrow, and another exorcism would wipe us out for the rest of the week.

I heard a screech from behind me and I spun on my heels. a handful of demons had broken through the circle, headed straight for Koneko and my brother. I shot forward, yelling out a warning to my twin and tackling the demons who flocked the smallest teen of our group. I turned just as Yukio did, his pistols aiming directly for the trolls. He fired, and his bullets found their mark, the demons imploding on themselves. My eyes widened, however, when the force field weakened behind him, and claws reached toward him. I snarled, moving reflexively to get him out of harms way. I snatched his arm and whirled him behind me, the momentum sending me closer to the edge of the circle.

White hot agony flashed through my bicep and I yanked myself forward, a cry escaping my lungs as claws ripped into my skin. "Rin!" My brother yelled, moving forward to grab me before I fell to the floor. His teal eyes flashed in horror as I gingerly touched my left arm, my fingers coming back a bright crimson. He shifted, turning to the side and signaling to our teammates. "Shura! The incantation!" My mentor spun around, fuchsia eyes meeting my brothers before snapping over to me. Realization dawned on her face and she dropped to her knees, setting down her sword and clasping her hands. She started muttering and after a few seconds the field around us started to glow more intensely. I sighed in relief, hearing thuds as the demons banged and scratched at the zone to no avail. My twin turned back to me, his eyes filled with worry. After a few moments, Shiemi and Izumo were by his side as well.

"Yuki, what do you need? I'll call Nee." Shiemi rushed out, falling to her knees and pulling out her Tamer circles.

I gripped my arm, feeling my adrenaline beginning to fade away. In its place, stinging pain started to wrap around, going down to my wrist and up my shoulder. Yukio rambled off several herbs, his eyes never leaving mine. "Rin," he finally addressed me, "take off your jacket."

I swallowed hard, hesitating at his demand. Even with the pain, I still felt uncomfortable baring my arms. The cram school kids knew about my scars, but that didn't mean I wanted them on display. Izumo seemed to catch onto my uncertainty first. She walked to my side and knelt down, flicking me in the forehead. "Take it off, dummy, we don't care about them. You're infected, and the sooner we treat it, the better." My eyes flickered up to her's. While she fronted her usual apathetic expression, deep in her maroon eyes, I saw unease. I sighed and nodded, pulling at my sleeves and letting the jacket fall off my shoulders.

"Shit, it's deep," Yukio muttered, his fingers reaching out to graze my skin. Four jagged lines were ripped into the front half of my bicep. Several red streaks erupted from the injury and wrapped down my arm and up past the short sleeve of my shirt. Teal eyes shot up to mine, a spark igniting behind them. "Why did you do that, Nii-san? You threw yourself into their grasp."

I gapped at him, "if I hadn't, it would've been you sitting here with gashes. Does it really matter?" My twin scoffed, ready to argue with me, but he was cut short by Izumo.

"Yukio," she deadpanned, dropping her formalities. "Now isn't the time." He grunted, turning to Shiemi and collecting a few herbs. The purple-haired girl turned her attention to me. She pulled at my sleeve, pushing it up to sit on top of my shoulder. "He's not wrong, Rin. This is serious..." I sighed, guilt flooding my system. I was only setting us back. My gaze flickered over to our other teammates, spotting the sweat that formed on their skin. Kamiki-chan followed my gaze, a small breath escaping her lips. "Yukio, what do we do? Rin might not be able to fight after this, and Kirigakure-sensei has to reinforce the barrier. It'll only be you and I, we can't continue."

"I know," he grunted, crushing a few herbs into a pile on the floor and pulling out a small vile of liquid from his jacket. "We will have to abort the mission, but we need to tend to the wounded first while the incantation is still strong." My guilt flared even more, feeling the burden of being the weakest link.

"What if," Shiemi started, her eyes turned downcast at her familiar. "What if Rin did that one thing?" Her green eyes flickered up to meet mine, and I realized just what she meant. "Can you do that again?"

I could, but in my current state, I wasn't sure how powerful it would be. However, even if I couldn't eradicate all the demons, I could still reduce them to a manageable size. I nodded slowly, but my twin rebutted. "No. No way in hell are you doing that. Are you crazy, Nii-san?" My gaze shot up and I glared at him. His teal eyes were unwavering and he shook his head in disbelief. "You're injured and exhausted, you'll only hurt yourself more. We're aborting the mission, and that is final."

My lip curled up into a snarl, "I'm not a child, I know my limits. Even if it's a shot in the dark, we don't have many options left." I gestured to our surroundings. "If we leave now, we risk more injuries. There are too many of them Yukio. How do you plan on getting us out; teleporting?" His face contorted in frustration and he paused his movements. His hands went into his hair and he let his head fall back, staring at the demons that bounced off of our containment zone.

He was quiet for several seconds, and he rubbed his face. When he faced us again, he looked defeated. "Please be careful, okay?"

I nodded vehemently, understanding just how much faith he was putting on me. With my uninjured arm, I pushed myself to stand. My world swam momentarily, but I forced myself to keep stable. If they knew I was on the verge of passing out, they'd revoke the idea entirely. It has been two weeks since I started throwing up, and the lack of nutrients was finally catching up to me. I shoved aside my weaknesses and walked to the center of the zone. Bon, Shima, and Koneko were all huddled there. Their weary eyes watched me silently, but they shifted so I could sit in the middle of their circle.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, calming myself. I breathed in several times, feeling myself fall into a meditative state. "If you see blue," I muttered to the teens around me, keeping my eyes closed. "Don't freak out, I'll keep the temperature down inside of the zone." I didn't wait to hear them answer, pushing myself into my connection instead. My senses heightened and I became further aware of my environment. Behind my eyelids, I saw my peers in the familiar blue overlay. I took one more breath, preparing myself before letting the threads expand. There were a few gasps from around me as the tendrils appeared, spiraling out toward the edges of the incantation. My connection pushed through and I gasped, it felt like I was burning. I withdrew the connection and the pain stopped. I should've figured my powers would be effected by it. My sword may have passed through, but this aura held a direct connection with my body.

Quickly, I tried to think of a solution to this, my mind settling on something. I opened my eyes, feeling disoriented to see out of my eyes and through the overlay. My gaze snapped over to my mentor, "Shura!" I called out and she briefly opened her own eyes, meeting my own. I had no doubts that my irises had shifted into the demonic eyes of my sperm doner, but she wasn't frightened by the sight anymore. "The forcefield effects me, too." My eyes flickered over my teammates, who all seemed disconcerted by my appearance. "Everyone needs to huddle together, and we need to drop the incantation."

I knew his words before he could speak them, "No, this is too dangerous, Nii-san!"

My mentor hushed him, "the safest route isn't always the best answer, Chicken. Trust him. Everyone gather around Okumura." I was thankful for her audacious personality, because no one questioned her. Even Yukio obeyed her commands, albeit whilst grumbling. My teammates closed in, moving to sit down in a circle around me. My eyes moved back to Shura and I nodded, readying my aura. She nodded back, "drop the zone."

A collective breath was held as our containment dissolved. The trolls broke through and began pushing forward. With as much power as I could muster, I let my connection expand, slicing into the closest demons and zig-zagging through the bodies. My eyes shot up, sensing their presence before they could drop. Blue light flared from above us and a chorus of screams erupted from the trolls - their bodies evaporating before they could land on us. My original sight became blinded, but the overlay continued to flash through our surroundings. Sweat dripped down my forehead as I concentrated, my eyes flickering back and forth, seeing nothing in my normal vision, but directing as my connections waved.

I sensed a familiar energy, and I aimed one of the tendrils in its direction. The blue veil shifted and I saw Kuro, pinned to ground with a demon on top of him. I growled lowly and shot my connection through its chest. "Kuro, get back here!" My physical eyes motioned toward Izumo, "get your familiars." She nodded and beckoned the foxes. Within moments, the three demons came tumbling back into my vision. Kuro looked shocked to see the turn of events, but he knew better than to question me. He pounced onto Yukio's shoulder and my twin turned to fill him in.

I didn't give him much time however, because I could feel my connections reaching their limits. I wouldn't be able to push out much further. I scanned our surroundings, seeing the vast reduction in vermin. My gaze snapped over to Shura, "go finish them off! And don't worry about the connections, they'll be warm, but they won't burn you." She nodded and barked orders to my peers. Within seconds, they all moved to their feet. I shivered as they ran through the threads, feeling their heartbeats pulsate back into my body. I watched as Shura snatched her sword. Both her and Yukio went into close combat with the demons. Izumo took over directing Kuro as well as her own familiars. The Aria's of the group shouted incantations, taking both offensive and defensive positions. Shiemi called upon Nee, crushing up herbs and scattering them around my body. I wasn't sure what type of plant she was using, but I assumed it was something akin to a salt circle.

I could feel myself sweating through my clothes, the exertion weighing me down. But I couldn't falter, not when we were so close to victory. My heart hammered in my chest and my whole body started to shake with tremors. Shiemi finished scattering the herbs and walked up next to me. She knelt down and placed her hands on the floor, taking a closer look at my maimed bicep. "Rin, you're pushing yourself too hard, you can ease up, you've done more than enough." I shook my head and grunted, causing her to sigh. "Can I patch you up while you sit here? It might sting a little and I don't want to interfere with your concentration." I accepted her help, and she moved over to Yukio's discarded medication. She continued to mix the powder into the vile before moving back over to me. She whispered her apologies before focusing on her work. My face scrunched up as the ointment was applied. It stung, but nowhere near as badly as the initial injury had.

A few demons bypassed our teammates, headed our direction. I switched the paths of a few of my tendrils, but I was worried over nothing. The second they came in contact with the herb circle around us, they screeched. They stumbled backward and their bodies began to swell at the site of contact. The poison swept through their bodies and they exploded into a plumb of vapor. I blinked, "good job, Moriyama-san."

She giggled quietly, "It's not that big of a deal. Something like this is temporary. The plant sticks to their bodies and disappears with the demons. Eventually, I would need to recreate the barrier, but it works as a quick fix." I nodded, glad to have her by my side.

Over the next several minutes, the screeches reduced and the demons disappeared one by one. Eventually, my teammates were able to band together, ridding the last of the trolls before returning to my side,

I pulled my connections back as Shura crouched down in front of me. "Good job, kid. You had confidence in your abilities and helped lead the team. We couldn't have done it without you." The last of my tendrils returned to me and I blinked, the blue overlay to my vision disappearing. I sighed in relief and she clapped me on my good shoulder. "I see you've been patched up already," she turned and thanked Shiemi. "Let's go home, the other groups can finish up."

There was a collective breath of relief, we'd succeeded, prevailing when we thought we were about to fail. A small smile brushed my lips and I wiped my forehead, my fingers coming back damp. I pushed myself upwards and my vision abruptly tilted. I stumbled and Yukio shot forward to grab me. A ensemble of worried gasps assaulted my eardrums. I gripped his arms, glancing up into his eyes, seeing the anxiety that sprouted inside. His questioned me, but I couldn't hear him over the rising buzzing in my ears. My vision tunneled and my knees buckled underneath me.