Chapter 30: Choice

Bang!

Legs giving way under the pressure, Maiko fell to her knees, trembling with fear.

Her mind emptied in a second. Only her mother's gaze remained in her mind. The coldness, the cruelty.

A simple order; Kill.

A woman protecting her only child in her arms, blood dripping from her wound, flowing onto the hair of the only thing that still made sense to her.

The child's sobs filled the room, pounding Maiko's mind with guilt.

It was her clan that had come to massacre this village, and it was her mother who stood over this child's mother, sword in hand, covered in her mother's blood.

"Kill them!" repeating her order a second time, Maiko's mother began to lose patience.

She looked at her daughter, a member of the Kaguya clan, trembling with fear, frightened and kneeling on the ground.

It wasn't her who should be scared right now!

Each of her actions filled her with shame.

Lifting the mother and son from the hole in the ground, she threw them to their knees in front of her daughter. "I'll give you one last chance." Lifting her bone as sharp as a sword above her head, she sliced in one fluid and swift motion the head of the innocent mother, leaving the seven-year-old child traumatized and frightened.

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh! Mamaaaan!"

As the room filled with the cries of the child and the head of the woman rolled on the floor, leaving a trail of blood, Maiko remained lost in her own thoughts.

It wasn't that she didn't know what was going to happen by coming here. She was well aware of the mission's objective.

But faced with the horror before her, she simply couldn't grasp onto anything.

The sight of the boy still crying in the arms of his decapitated mother pierced her heart, reigniting every fiber of her being. Her mind wavered between the horror of the scene and the weight of the guilt weighing on her shoulders.

"Kill the boy!" Maiko's mother ordered a third time.

By killing the child's mother, she had already done half the work. Only the boy, crying with all his being, remained.

"Hurry up!"

"Get up!"

"Do something!"

As time passed, Maiko's mother grew impatient and could no longer tolerate her daughter who dared not wield the blade.

Grabbing the boy by the collar, she forcefully pulled him from his mother's arms and threw him to the ground along with one of her kunai. "Kid, stop crying!" shouting at the poor child, she showed no mercy or consideration.

"Tell me, do you want to live? Do you want revenge?" Pointing to the kunai beside him, she then pointed to Maiko, who remained kneeling on the ground watching what was happening. "Then kill her. Kill her and I'll let you live."

"Mom...?" Maiko, hearing her mother suggest killing her, felt the last of her strength slipping away. Abandoning her.

What did her mother imply? Why was she talking about killing her?

She knew she wasn't so loved by her family, but to kill her...

Without responding to her daughter, the mother watched the young boy, visibly conflicted about taking the kunai. Tears flowed from his eyes, his limbs trembling with fear and sorrow, he didn't even understand who these wicked people were who had come to his home to kill his mother.

"Mom..." calling her mother a second time, Maiko felt fear rising within her, the feeling of being totally abandoned. "Mom please..."

Despite Maiko's pleas, her mother did not heed her cries.

It was simple, if Maiko couldn't bring herself to kill this child, then the child would kill her.

Maiko was not an inexperienced kunoichi either. She knew the techniques of the clan and the art of her lineage.

If she really wanted to, she could kill this boy without any difficulty. But it was beyond her. This poor boy had been living a carefree and happy life just ten minutes ago. But now, he had nothing...

"Take it." Seeing the boy reach out to pick up the kunai, Maiko's mother knew it took more than just encouragement to push him where she wanted.

It was only when the child picked up the kunai that she turned her eyes to her daughter.

"Maiko, my daughter, you can't maintain this weakness in you anymore. You have to make a choice. Either be killed, or kill." in a softer tone, she explained calmly and quietly while still maintaining an impassive face. "Be a true Kaguya, make me proud of you."

"But mom--"

"We're done!" cutting off Maiko's mutterings, the other members of the Kaguya clan who had exterminated the rest of the village entered the house with smiles on their lips.

Most were immaculate in blood and none were injured. It was clear the mission was a total success.

Except for Maiko, who was completely lost.

"Maiko, what are you doing?" Seeing her on the ground doing nothing while a child held a kunai in his hand, the Kaguya children didn't understand the situation. Shouldn't it be the other way around normally?

"Shut up!" Seeing the other children enter the small room, Maiko's mother quickly silenced them so as not to interfere in Maiko's trial. "This is Maiko's mission, don't you dare intervene."

As the Kaguya children stepped back, keeping silent, Maiko felt the pressure becoming unbearable. Her mind swirled in a tumult of fear, confusion, and despair. Before her, the boy held the kunai, trembling in all his limbs, tears drowning his innocent gaze.

The scene was dramatic. A seven-year-old child, kunai in hand, dripping with his dead mother's blood beside him. His gaze lost between his mother and the kunai.

Hatred, anger, sadness, fear... all these emotions flowed through him like a torrent.

His innocence had just been decapitated along with his mother.

Looking at Maiko, who stood defenseless beside him, the woman's words returned to his mind like the whisper of the devil.

"Kill her."

"Kill her."

"Kill her!"

Losing his mind, his reason seemed to disappear, leaving only the kunai in his hand and Maiko on the ground.

As Maiko begged her mother to stop, the little boy approached Maiko more and more, his body trembling like a leaf.

The kunai was of perfect sharpness, a light weight, perfect for taking a life.

Without a sound, leaving only Maiko's pleas, the sound of rain and thunder echoed in the room, the boy plunged the kunai into the heart of the young Kaguya.

Maiko, unable to focus on the outside world, did not see the boy coming towards her, she did not see the kunai plunging into her chest. The pain was barely enough to awaken her mind, bringing her back to reality.

Lowering her head, she could see the blood continuously pouring from her wound, raising her head she saw the horrified face of the boy slowly realizing what he had done, and turning her head, she saw her mother's face showing only slight disappointment.

"Mom..." losing all her strength, Maiko leaned forward, the kunai still firmly planted in her heart.

Lying on the ground, her tears continued to flow, she could only see her mother's cold gaze, not bothering to help her daughter who was losing blood uncontrollably.

"It seems the little boy resembles more a member of the clan than you," her mother said.

Nodding towards the Kaguya children who watched on the sidelines, one of them stepped forward, and with a precise motion, beheaded the boy who was then paralyzed with fear, looking at Maiko on the ground.

Nodding satisfactorily, she took the lead and led the clan children to leave the premises and return home. The mission was over, almost to perfection.

Leaving her daughter on the ground, slowly losing consciousness, she didn't bother to turn around to look at her one last time. "Goodbye, Maiko..."

Surprisingly, Maiko had never heard her mother with such a gentle tone as in her final moments...