Then came the tournament. The invitation of Kurei to compete in the Urabutou Satsujin. This was my chance. "Yanagi, this might be my chance to find out who my sister's killer is." I recall saying to Yanagi-san, to reassure her of our decision to enter the tournament. I had two reasons for entering, one was to protect Yanagi as well, and the other...to finally find the man who murdered my sister, tore her away from me so cruelly.
Tokiya...Tokiya! Dimly I heard Fuuko's voice cry out. My breath was coming in gasps as blood trickled down my chest. Ignoring this, I focused on the man standing before me. Kai... The old man had told me that in this last around, I would find out who my sister's killer really is.
The earring. He wore her earring. I could remember my first reaction. A bright, burning desire to destroy him, and satisfaction of finally finding her killer. "People are always attacking me, and wanting to fight me. All because I wore the jewelry of their deceased loved ones. The ones who I killed."
"I attacked him, I fought him. I knew that I might not be able to survive this battle. For he was strong. As strong as I was. Maybe even stronger?"
"You're not the real master of Hyomon Ken. Kyoza just chose you as a replacement if anything happened to me." His words hurt. Mikagami stared at him, with blue eyes bleak and cold.
A replacement? If he was the true master then why would he kill her? Wouldn't I get better if I had such a strong motive? If I was only the second choice, the "spare" why kill her? Why destroy everything I love?
"His madougu, the Hyomon En, his attacks, the Ice Snake. More powerful than mine."
Did Master Kyoza lie to me? Kai was the TRUE master of Hyomon Ken? I was only a reserve if anything happened to him? My fury increased...was everything I knew and trusted all a lie?
Tokiya fell to the ground as Kai looked down at him smugly. But then his expression changed, as the wounded form was revealed to be a product of Mizu Kugutsu. Tokiya attacked him from behind, his Ensui a different color. It had run out of water to use, and in his wish to continue the fight, he used his own blood. The red Ensui.
I will NOT lose to him! It did not matter to me if I died, but what mattered was whether I would be able to avenge her or not. But even during our fight I puzzled over Kai's reason for killing my sister... Why?
Tokiya finally jumped and slashed down for his final blow. Only a few people noticed it, but there was a second's hesitation to his attack. Kai swung his own madougu up and thrust it into Tokiya's body. Both fighters fell down, but Kai got up and Tokiya remained down. Fuuko and Domon and Kaoru rushed to him as Kai looked at the young man in confusion. "Why? Why didn't you kill me?"
Because I knew...I knew that...
"Why did you make me think that you killed my sister?"
I knew that he wasn't her real killer. What was it that Sherlock Holmes said? Eliminate the impossible, and whatever is left, no matter how improbable, is the truth? I just couldn't reconcile the thought that Kai was truly the one who killed my sister. He had no reason, no motive. He did not strike me as the type of person who would kill someone without reason. He just didn't seem that way...and another factor told me otherwise. My instinct told me...it wasn't him. He wasn't her killer.
Kai started to laugh. "You really ARE amazing. Even during a fight like this, you still managed to keep an objective part of you to examine the truth of what I was saying. You see my reason for lying to you is that I wanted to fight you. To...see if you truly were the best."
His words were confusing...The best? But wasn't I only second to him?
"It's time for the truth to come out...Yes, Meguri Kyoza initially chose me to be his successor. But when he saw you, he knew that you had enormous potential. So he cast me off. He only kept me alive because if anything happened to you, the Hyomon Ken technique would still be passed on to another generation. But the truth is...I was the second choice. Not you."
I felt as if I was in a world of chaos. A lie...everything seemed to be a lie now. What else was a lie?
Kai turned and walked to the edge of the arena. He looked at the long drop down. "Kai wait! Don't do it!" my voice, although strained, was strong. Now that i knew the truth, I didn't want to see him die. Not anyone. He turned and looked at me. "Do you really think that I would still be able to survive a wound like this? I only wanted to prove to myself...that...you were really better than I was. And now I have."
But I still don't know who killed Mifuyu!
"Oh yes, you want to know who killed your sister? I'll tell you. It was...Meguri Kyoza."
Master? My master? I felt like I was in a void now. Everything growing dark and numb around me. My own master? He killed my sister? My sister who was everything to me? But why?
"He knew that if you had a reason as strong as avenging your sister to push you, you'd be able to learn the techniques of Hyomon Ken faster. And you did." Kai's voice kept on, as if an echo of a nightmare. He turned completely, his back to the darkness below. "I wish you all the luck in your quest for vengeance." He fell backwards, his body dropping down into the darkness, leaving the Hyomon Ken master with this new revelation.
My master? Everything really WAS a lie? My own master? Why? For such a horrible reason? How could he...the one I trusted so much...respected to much...be so cruel? His obsession with power...took everything from me. I had nothing...no answer...no reasons...no way to hide form the truth. Betrayal... the most terrible way to hurt me. He manipulated me...but I still couldn't...understand...I can't put the pieces together. I have them all...but they don't fit to my satisfaction. The man who I trusted...saw as a father figure...was the one who hurt me the most. He betrayed me...BETRAYED ME!!! Lied to me, used me, killed what I loved the most.
Everything...my world seemed to turn upside down again. I found my sister's killer...and it was the person I trusted the most. How will I avenge her?
Insanity...have I lost my mind completely? Is this all a horrible nightmare? Fate...does it hate me so much?
A cry of a bird startled me out of my dark thoughts. I looked down at her grave and began to shake. For the first time tears trickled out of my eyes. tears that were long in coming. "Forgive me Mifuyu... I, I failed..."
Everything looks the same. Mikagami looked around the dojo. But I see it all with clearer eyes now. He had come to confront his master, finally. For days he had agonized over this. What he would say, how he would say it. And he wasn't even really sure he could do it. He had long planned this moment. Confronting her killer, making him pay. But not this...he never imagined this.
Only a door separated them. The master from his student. Beyond it, the boy could hear the sounds of a man moving around the room. Making his bed? Fixing his things? Such innocuous actions... Mikagami took a step forward, gathering his resolve. He killed her. He killed her. He doesn't deserve anything less than what he did to her. I can do it I WILL do it. For her... He repeated this to himself.
He reached the door, his hand reaching out to pull it aside. It trembled. He looked at his hand in surprise, as if it was an alien entity. Why??? WHY AM I SO SCARED? HE KILLED HER!! His hand fisted as he bent his head in another wave of grief. Not just for his sister...but for the loss of the man he thought of as a father. A friend. I just....can't do it.
"Like a coward I ran. I turned away and ran. From him. From your killer Mifuyu, from my friend, from my pain, from finally facing the man who murdered you. I ran from everything, my pain, my hurt. Because I didn't know what to do. He killed you. I know this. I trusted him and he betrayed me."
There's nothing now...the goal I've had all my life..the mission I've worked so hard for...and I can't go through with it. I really AM weak. I found him, and I can't confront him.
"Pathetic I know." my voice was bitter. Angry. At life, at my master...and mostly at myself. Weak, and cowardly. "I hurt so many innocent people in my desire to avenge you. But now that I've come so close to doing so...I couldn't do it."
The shack was empty now. He could still see traces of the man who lived there. But it was deserted. No sign of life. No clue as to where it's previous occupant had gone. Where is he? Where are you master?
"I searched for him again...and I found that he was gone. I had lost my chance." I couldn't go on. Sorrow and shame raged inside me. "Forgive me..." Strange. I tasted the saltiness of my tears. That only now...only now can I weep. Only now can I let my tears flow. Not just for my sister, nor for my master...but for myself too.
A cool wind brushed against my wet cheeks, soothing and comforting. "But Mifuyu..." I spoke again. "I will find him. I promise this...and may heaven help me when I do..."
The wind began again, swirling around him, teasing his hair as he lowered his head again. The sky became brilliant with new light, as clear and blue as the eyes closed in grief, near the grave. The sea roared, waves crashing against the shore. Life was stirring again. Beginning a new day. Filling it with sounds and motions. Birds sang songs to give peace to troubled hearts. But not the heart of the boy named Tokiya Mikagami, whose life was filled with tragedy.
The world moved on, leaving the young man alone with his sad thoughts.
"Because I don't know if I can do it."
THE END