5 The Burden of Freedom

After listening to Aiko's plead for help and seeing the surprised eyes of Shoko, he started to calm down. "What exactly has Daiki been doing?" He noticed how she to had started too calm down from her initial awakening. "After Daiki did, you-know-what, he started to change. He stopped going on missions and seemed to be in a state of mind in which he was just living and nothing more. But then, when the organization collapsed half a year later, he seemed to almost be reborn. He went away on his own and three years later sittings of former leaders from the Kirai who had been assassinated by decapitation started to pop up all over the country. As you know, that was the way in which Daiki used to kill his targets. I've been living here for three years now and recently news about another murder by decapitation in the village nearby started to spread. He's nearby, Hotaka. Suddenly Shoko ran forward and hugged Aiko in a careful but loving manner. "Your awake mom, your really awake!" In an instant, Aiko's attention switched from Hotaka over to her daughter. "It's so good to see you Shoko", she said, as she put her hand on her back and held her tightly. "I've been a horrible mother, forcing you to take care of Shoya and me... While I have just been resting. I'm sorry... I'm truly sorry..." Tears started to flow down her chins as her voice started to fill with sadness and anguish. "It's okay mom, I've managed and Hotakas helped me these last days" He truly couldn't fathom how he, just a few days ago had been fully prepared to murder the woman who right now was embracing her daughter as if she was the only thing that mattered in the world. "Although, that might not be too far from the truth", he thought. "Have you really helped my daughter Hotaka?, if you have, even though I'm in no position to say this, thank you"

He didn't know what the correct response was to the words that he had just heard, so the only thing he did was to node his head towards her. Even though a lot of conflicting feelings were still circulating in his head, he chose to ignore them for the moment. "So what makes you so sure that this is Daiki?, he wasn't the only one who decapitated his targets", he knew the answer, but he still wanted absolute confirmation. "You know as well as I, that he had a technique in his sword swing that allowed him to decapitate someone without them even noticing. People described it as if you would just suddenly fall asleep and then nothing more would happen. It's because of that precise nature that you can tell the difference between a normal murder and a master assassins technique" Yes, he knew that difference all to well, it's something he would never forget.

After Aiko's sudden awakening and the surprising information she had shared, they had all gone to sleep. He had thought a lot before going to sleep and in the end he had made a decision.

"I'm going after him", it was early in the morning and Hotaka had explained his decision to Aiko. "Are you leaving right now?, without saying goodbye?" "Well, I don't need to say it...", he glanced over to the futon in which Aiko was sleeping with her brother. "... Since we will see each other again someday" She looked at him with a melancholic glance. "I hope you're right, she really seems to like you" "Yeah... By the way, you remember how to make the medicine i gave you, right?, he had thought her the simple steps to make it this morning." I remember it, but are you going to be okay?, going after your own brother?" He gave her a surprised look and said," I'm not going to get my revenge, I'm going to stop him from doing the same thing as me. As the older brother, I have to take my responsibility in this matter, don't you think? She had a sense of relief appear on her face." Your seeming more and more like the Hotaka I once knew" He looked at her with intense eyes and said, "Even though I may seem the same as six years ago, don't think for one second that things are the same" "...Of course..." She almost blurted out the words she had sworn to keep hidden for the rest of her life, but she managed to keep her calm. He turned around and started walking while making a waving motion with his left hand. He heard the low but clear words Aiko said to him while having his back turned to her, "It's still good to see you after all this time, Hotaba" That was the nickname she had given him a long time ago, surprisingly, at least to him, a small smile started to spread along his lips. Slowly he vanished in the distance.

He was no longer on a road, walking aimlessly. Instead, he was on an open field. He could walk wherever he wanted, it made him feel a sense of relief but also as if he was carrying a big boulder. There was things in his life that he wanted to live for now, that was one of the reasons he had walked away without a goodbye. He wanted to come back, but if he was going to do that he first needed to stop someone else on their road to vengeance.

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