19 Reunions

The blood had started to blend with the thrash, making the smells nearly impossible to separate. Two bodies had been clumsily buried within the thrash. Hotaka could make out a hand and foot sticking out of the stinky mountain. Their uniforms were hard to make out, but they were clearly soldiers from this camp.

One of them had a deep cut across his torso and the other had been decapitated. Daiki had to have been the culprit. He started to search for clues, as to where his brother had gone. The thrash had been thrown out of the camp by this gap in the wall. The size of the gap was about two tree poles, at least it seemed like that, judging by the size of it.

Daiki must have gotten in by the gap and risked being detected. He then ignited the gunpowder to start a commotion. I should have stayed with Fumihiro. Because of my selfishness, I abandoned him and everyone else at this camp. I really am just thinking about myself. Whether it is me personally seeking vengeance, or if it's me wanting to prove that I'm a "good" person. I simply use this small quest of mine as an excuse to lie to myself.

Suddenly, he noticed a track of blood leading towards the tents. Without hesitation, Hotaka started following along the track. Now was not the time to feel bad about himself, it was time to act.

As he followed the trail of blood, bodies of men who had not burned to death started appearing. He heard a scream in the distance and started running towards it. While running, he realized that the trail of blood was not the victim's, it was Daiki's own blood. "He must have been injured while fighting one of the soldiers", he theorized.

As he arrived at the location of the scream, Hotaka saw his brother for the first time in six years. Four soldiers were in combat with him and blood was pulsating from his thigh. A scared Fumihiro was standing behind the soldiers who protected him like a wall.

One of the soldiers got his face cut in half by Daiki's blade and Hotaka rushed in with his katana drawn. Daiki planted his right foot in front of the soldiers and used the momentum to turn his back against the soldiers, making him face Hotaka directly. He then sprinted against his brother and yelled, "Not right now, I need to find him!"

The comment surprised Hotaka, but he still continued to charge against his brother. Their blades met each other and small sparks gnasterd. "He's a small kid who I've been traveling with, yet he still went here without me!"

Suddenly, the soldiers yelled, "Fumihiro!" Both brothers looked towards the direction of the screams and what they saw would be something that scared them for life. A knife was sticking through Fumihiro's stomach and the weak man fell on his knees. Behind him stood a young boy, his hands were shaking and tears flooded down his eyes.

The boys eyes turned up towards the sky and he uttered a few words that were a combination of sadness, guilt and relief. "I... I finally did it mom!... I-I'm not a failure! I'm... I'm not happy mom, why am I not happy?!", the boy turned his glance towards Daiki, "I'm sorry..."

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