Back to the Village

(The day after the ambush at Uesugi Clan)

It took a whole hour of walking, but I finally made it home.

'Goo-!'

I opened the sliding door to the run-down shack. The same old shack that we had always lived in inside this ordinary village.

"I'm home, Haru.... Haru?"

The shack was empty, there was no one inside.

"Where the hell is he?..."

I walked up the hill again, back towards the village. If he isn't here then he must be somewhere in the village.

He could be shopping, so I asked around the village shops but no one have seen him around.

I went to the new blacksmith who had just made his shop around the village when it was rebuilt.

"Oh, little girl. Was the mission a success?"

"Pretty much."

I gave the old geezer Fujimoto's scythe.

"I think the "switch" mechanism is broken... I did hit it pretty hard."

Fujimoto's Scythe came with a function to switch between a Glaive or a Scythe. I call it a scythe but in reality this is a Switch-Glaive, a special made glaive that allows the blade to bend 90° into a scythe.

It was never meant to be wielded as a Scythe, as a result it breaks very easily if you mishandle it.

"Tch.... You're better off using an axe, idiot."

"What?..."

"This thing is the work of an artist, and here you go slamming it around like a hoe. You ought to appreciate another smith's work better and stop breaking it!"

"...I'll keep it in mind."

"And as usual this will cost you a lot! Fixing this isn't easy you know?"

"I have the money."

"Money isn't the issue brat..."

"And stop calling me a little girl, I'm turning 19 this month. Most women my age around this part would've been married.

By the way have you seen Haruto around?"

"No. He haven't been here since a month ago now."

"I see... I'll come back for the scythe tomorrow, I want it done by then for another mission."

"This will take at least two day!"

So Haru isn't here either... he must be at the pond just outside the village, fishing.

As I trek up the hill into the shallow wilderness, the sun starts to set.

If this was back then, cursed spirits would've been running rampant around this forest by now...

But not anymore.

After the village was rebuilt, I worked in the shrine as a shrine maiden for almost 7 years before I left the village. I took the opportunity to hunt down all the cursed spirits... to the point that the entire area leading up to Edo city should be safe.

But I am not here to look for spirits.

"Hmm? Oh, welcome back Shiro."

Haru, now a grown man, is sitting on a log next to the pond with a fishing rod in his hand.

"It's good to see you, Haru."

"...How goes your mission?"

"It was a great success. We managed to assassinate Uesugi Kenshin, the Sword Saint, and a symbol of hope for the Uesugi Clan. Defeating him is merely the start."

But I can't tell him the real detail about the mission... We were there to retrieve the Black Lotus Blade, said to be able to cut anything in the world.

"...Do you have no intentions to leave the Takeda Clan?"

"...."

"...Why?"

"Fujimoto-san was a great general, and one of the members of the Five Fangs of Takeda."

"...Do you have a taste for bloodshed, Shiro?"

"I do not..."

"Then why don't you listen to me?! Ji-chan wouldn't have wanted you to join the clan and fight in a pointless war-"

'Slap.'

I slapped the man before me.

"...."

"....Do you know what hurts me the most, Fujimoto Amemiya-san? Something that hurts me more than losing a limb?"

"...What is it?"

"It's losing you."

"...."

"If that night I didn't suggest to you to try to save the villagers....

If I had considered the danger... I wouldn't have put you and Ji-chan in danger."

"No. The problem isn't with you....

The truth is, part of me wanted to put the blame on you. Part of me hated that you suggested such a stupid idea.

But... the real problem was me.

If I had considered the danger I would've convinced you not to sneak into the shrine.

If I had trained with Fujimoto when he sparred with you, I would've been strong enough to protect myself.

If I hadn't took the scythe that originally belonged to him, Fujimoto-san wouldn't have lost his main weapon.

If I had tried to come up with another way to free the villagers without coming in danger, this would've never happened.

If it was I who took the bullet... things wouldn't be the same-"

'Slap.'

This time, Haru slapped me.

"...."

"Don't say things like that!... It's not your fault."

"Then you know what I am going to say back to you right? The exact same words."

"...Yeah."

Both of us knew that we had blamed ourselves for his death. And the both of us knew that it is stupid.

But does this stop us from still doing it? No.

"I'm sorry... You had just come back from a hard mission, and the first thing I did was get in a fight with you."

"No. I'm the one at fault here.

The truth is, what you said was entirely correct... about how fighting in this war is entirely pointless. I have realized it now."

"...."

"There is something I must tell you... Something that is stuck on my mind since the mission. Something that... changed me."

I told him everything. About the red haired woman that I ran into, she who called me by a foreign name in a foreign language that I actur understood, and how I shot her right in the chest just as Fujimoto-san was shot.

".But why are you considering leaving now as compared to back then?"

"I... made a mistake.

Joining the Five Fangs of Takeda was a mistake. I had wanted to trace the footsteps of Fujimoto-san who was a respected member but I should've known better.

Leaving the clan at this point is impossible... but I still wished to do it. And the reason is simple -

I finally found a clue to my past identity, and I want to hear the truth. Directly from that red haired woman."

"Yeah..."

"But I am simply too dangerous to be let out of the clan... they will silence me since that woman is from the Uesugi Clan, and they're afraid that I'll leak the information that I know.

They'd send my fellow Fangs of the Takeda after me. And this isn't considering that I would be considered as a deserter, already making me a criminal."

"You don't say..."

"Hey, Haru... what should I do?"

"You have to think first. It isn't wise to make any moves when the Takeda Clan is barely entering the war itself.

It'd be safer to leave when the situation is... more appropriate. Such as when the other four of the Five Fangs are too busy to deal with your situation."

"I see... It seems I will have to carry on for now until I find the right moment."

"Yeah."

"I have never said this to you before, but... I always find some amount of peace when I talk it out with you."

"Of course, that is what I am here for. That is what I have promised you before, y'know, when I first spoke with you about your nightmares."

"Now that's a long time ago..."

"The sky is getting darker as we speak, should we head back now?"

"Mmm."

Haruto carried a basket with two fishes that he caught, and in his other hand he held a glaive. A glaive that he got to protect the village in Fujimoto's sake.

"Hah.... Feels just like the good old times doesn't it? Hanging out and playing around by the woods..."

"Mmm."

As we descended down the hills and back towards the village, I called out to him.

"Haru... Do you like me?"

"Uhh... Not as a lover, but I guess I like you. Something like a sister? But also more like a friend, since you don't need any of my protection."

"What do you mean I don't need any protection..."

"I fear for my life whenever I practice the glaive with you. You're way stronger than I am, there's no way I can protect you.

What's more, you've learned to how tame spirits as well with that 'Yuki' spirit of yours."

"Yeah... But few could hope to keep up with my spear fighting, just being able to do it already makes you a top notch fighter.

And I don't use Yuki's spirit to fight humans. That is the condition for this power, the condition for the Goddess's blessing."

"Either way, I'm right still about you being way stronger than me.

Things are already awkward enough between us. I'm glad to have our relationship be sorted out..."

"Yeah. Wouldn't want things to grow any weirder."

"That part of you being so straightforward is what I like about you too. You don't seem to talk much though, that could use some improvements."

"It's just that you talk too much."

"Yes yes, everybody calls me a yapper and it's never changed since I was a kid.

It helps to have someone to listen to me when I ramble though. You're my only victim, so you'd have to endure for now. At least until I find a wife and some kids."

"I'm sure many would want you."

"Overestimated my charm, dear sister."

(Chapter End)