Asuka took her time explaining to Ichigo all the things she had initially left out when telling him about what happened in Aboa: the contra training she, the existence of Annie and the other demon inside her, the number of her horns increasing and her visions. She even told him about the story Amelia told her and the talk Annie gave her about ruina.
Ichigo sat silently, eyes closed, processing it all.
"You're lucky, you know," he said seriously.
Asuka looked down, unable to look into his eyes. Letting her guard down, she didn't get the chance to react when Ichigo reached out, grabbed her head and placed his thumb on her forehead.
"Hey! What are you-"
"Quiet. Give me a moment."
He closed his eyes trying to focus. Soon, Asuka felt a foreign warmth engulf her body. After a few seconds, Ichigo let out a sigh, opened his eyes and let go of the girl.
"Damn it, Asuka. I told you I would look over your contra training. This is exactly the situation I was trying to avoid."
Confused, Asuka raised an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about?"
Rubbing his temple, Ichigo began to explain.
"When a demon absorbs and corrupts a significant amount of anima, there contra level grows and they're able to get stronger. The problem for them is that not many demons are able to advance using this method. This is because their human targets are too weak for any significant growth or too strong or too many to defeat. Nephilim, or your case Trinity, do not have this disadvantage."
Understanding what he was implying, Asuka's eyes widened in surprise.
"Since we have anima inside of us already, all we need to do is mix it with our contra and corrupt it. But now there's less anima in the body. Less anima us them at a disadvantage with other humans making us use contra even more which will only make it worse. Slowly we'd lose our humanity and eventually become a full demon."
Slowly, Asuka placed her hand over her stomach, recalling what she said to Annie when she was in front of the cave the day after her battle.
"...it's as if something essential to me just vanished."
"Is that what happened to me?"
"Yes. Lucky for you, not much of your anima was corrupted."
"Is there anyway to... I don't know... uncorrupt it?"
"I'm not sure. A long time ago, this same thing happened to me. I was a kid then and still haven't figured out a way to turn it back. That's something we'll have to keep in mind from now on. For now, you should be very careful when using your contra. Your anima control is still better than most people I've seen and the decrease isn't too significant. So from now on, only use your anima except during training."
Understanding, Asuka nodded to his orders.
"Now," Ichigo continued, "I want to talk with Annie. There's something I want to see. Let her take over body for a bit. I'll be quick."
Without hesitating, Asuka closed her eyes and her contra began to flow throughout her body.
"It seems she trusts Annie."
Suddenly, a slit opened on Asuka's forehead, starteling Ichigo. The slit then opened to reveal an blood-red eye with a thin black pupil.
"You wished to speak with me?" Annie said calmly.
Ichigo did not respond. The two sat in silence for a while before Annie noticed he had released using his contra. She slowly prepared herself just in case he attacked but he remained seated simply observing.
Then, he finally spoke.
"How strange."
Annie tilted her head in confusion.
"Strange?"
"Usually, the demon part would be bound to the soul of the person. But you... you aren't bound to Asuka. You're like a completely separate being."
Annie contemplated his words for a moment before responding.
"That... makes sense."
"Oh? How so?"
"Visions. Of the past. I've had many of them ever since Asuka began using contra. It seems the more the seal you placed on me weakens, the more memories I gain."
"I see. So you had a past life. From when?"
"About a thousand years ago. I know this because the Calamity was in them."
It was barely noticeable, but Ichigo twitched a little at the mention of the Calamity.
"You don't need to worry. In one of the visions she was trying to kill me. So I don't think we were allies."
She purposely left out the vision she had after ward to not make Ichigo tense.
"So you died a thousand years ago? How did your soul end up in Asuka?"
"Well, I'm not sure if that was where I died. And I have no idea how I ended up in Asuka's body."
"I guess that does make sense since most of your contra is still sealed. I'll make sure to train Asuka to handle her contra little by little to try and restore your memories. But before that, I need to understand what Asuka meant by the other demon living inside her."
"It's as she says. During her fight with the demon, a voice spoke to me. I followed the direction I heard it come from and found an abyss filled with contra. The demon was inside the abyss, chained-but some of it's restraints had broken. It attacked me but I fended it off."
Ichigo hearing what Annie said, sat quietly thinking.
"I think the demon you found is actually Asuka's true demonic half," he said.
Ichigo had expected Annie to look surprised, but her expression remained calm. If she did feel anyway, she did not show it.
"I suspected as much. When I tried to find Asuka by sensing her contra I couldn't distinguish her contra from the demons. The only explanation is if their contra was the same. And that can only be the case if it was Asuka's demonic half."
Ichigo nodded agreeing with her deduction.
"Asuka's listening right? What does she think?"
It takes Annie a moment to reply.
"She thinks the same."
"If that is the case than this complicates her contra training."
"I don't think so," Annie interjected, "The seal on it seems much stronger than my own. Asuka is only at risk when she's pushed too far emotionally. I think she just needs to be careful not to get carried away when using her contra."
"Maybe. Still, I want to take it as slow as possible. So for now until she masters what contra she has available to her now, I won't weaken the seal."
"Yes. I agree that's for the best," she replied with a hint of disappointment.
"And about her foresight ability... I think it's powerful, yes, but Asuka isn't ready for it mentally. We'll train her to control it, but she should only use it as a last resort. Agreed?"
Annie simply nodded to reply.
"Good. You can switch back now."
The eye on her forehead slowly closed and vanished. A moment later, her regular eyes opened-both glowing a deep crimson.
"These two months until your next mission will be tough. The first thing you need to train is your anima. Now that you have less than every other human opponent you'll face, your anima control and mastery over your element can be nothing less than perfection. Any complaints."
Asuka met his eyes, determined.
"None from me. I'm ready for whatever you throw at me."