"Oneechan, who are those men?"

"Tokiya! Nigete!"

"O...

"ONEECHAN!"

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"Mi-chan, why did you stop!?"

"Because... he didn't kill my sister."

"No, I didn't. The man who killed your sister was... Meguri Kyoza. He knew that with revenge driving you, you would become the true master of the Hyoumon Ken."

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He stood alone on the bank of the lake. An outside observer would wonder what in the body of water so fascinated the young man. Another observer might even question if the man was indeed a man at all. The wardrobe, a stylish white suit, supported the notion; yet the cascading mane of silver hair, tied back into a ponytail, would cause many people to wonder.

Mikagami Tokiya had always felt more comfortable around water than anywhere else. Even as a young child, before he had received the Madougu Ensui, he harbored an inexplicable love for the natural element.

Mikagami stared at his source of comfort, now. Never had he needed its solace more than this night. His eyes danced with the rays of the moon that were glancing off the lake's surface, giving the water an almost magical quality.

But he had even polluted that in Mikagami's life.

Meguri Kyoza. Mikagami fought the urge to spit in disgust after the name.

The man who had taken him in, trained him, raised him... The very man who had become like a father to Mikagami, replacing the one he barely remembered... The man who had saved him from despair after his sister's death...

It was the same man who had decidedly ruined his life.

Mikagami's sole purpose in his life was to extract revenge on his sister's murderer. His own death was inconsequential, as long as it meant he would take the bastard down with him. At the Ura Buto Satsujin, he proved that by being willing to die in the last match. Because he thought he was doing his sister justice.

But then, irony reared its ugly head.

Mikagami not only failed to avenge his sister, but had actually disgraced her memory even more. By taking up the Ensui, becoming heir to Meguri Kyoza’s art, he had inadvertently let his sister’s killer win. All his solemn vows and dreams of revenge meant nothing in the face of the cruel truth. Nothing, because his own hand allowed the murderer’s legacy to live on.

Hell... He may as well have killed Mifuyu himself.

That was what he felt, and what he truly believed. He loathed his hypocrisy, not caring that it was unknowingly performed.

Mikagami’s fingers wrapped around his Madougu. It felt as if he was trying to strangle it, squeeze out the evil it signified.

His sister’s killer had finally been revealed. And the ramifications were far different from what he had imagined.

Mikagami had expected feelings of triumph, or at the very least a sense of closure. Instead, he fell into despair even deeper than before.

He could kill himself. Form the Ensui’s lethal blade with the lake water and end his life with the weapon that had started it all. It would be so easy.

Too easy, in fact. And Mikagami did not deserve that.

The other option, and he had already made the choice in his mind, was to live on as an unarmed fighter. He would dispose of the Ensui, where no one could ever discover it. He had grown up with the Ensui at his side so often it had become like a part of his body. Fighting without the weapon, he was defenseless at best.

A death by the hands of another.

Justice served.

Mikagami gave the Ensui, at once his most beloved and loathed possession, one final squeeze. Saying goodbye.

He drew his hand back, ready to pitch the aquatic Madougu into the deep, murky waters of the lake.

A hand grabbed his extended wrist, stopping his movement.

His head whipped around, startled. He had not sensed anyone approaching.

Slender fingers wrapped around his forearm. They belonged to a young girl, petite and slender. Her chestnut hair, tied back into a ponytail, fell in wispy strands around her face. The pastel yellow dress offset her sad eyes, eyes that had seen far more than a usual sixteen year-old usually sees.

She looked like Yanagi-san. But it wasn’t her.

And yet... The other possibility was too, well, impossible...

"Tokiya," a familiar voice said softly sending chills down Mikagami’s spine, "please don’t."

Mikagami blinked, tried to speak, but no sound could escape his constricted throat.

He swallowed and willed his voice to come out. He finally managed a weak, "Neesan?"

It was a hallucination. It had to be. How else could she be standing there?

Mikagami Mifuyu smiled comfortingly. "It sounds cliché," she began, "but no, I’m not real, and you’re not imagining me either. I’m from --" she placed her hand on her brother’s chest, "-- here. Wow, that is cliché!" She giggled.

Mikagami struggled to follow suit, but it was a lost cause. To see his sister, standing there, laughing...

Mifuyu quieted, but her mirth remained. She studied the young man before her, eyes wandering everywhere in scrutiny.

"You’ve grown so much, Tokiya. You’re even older than I... was." She faltered, then, a little of the sadness and regret at leaving so long ago coming through.

"But you’ve always been mature," she continued, recovering. "I guess this," she gestured between them, "is only natural, then."

Mikagami shook his head. "Iya... You will always be my neesan," he said hoarsely.

"Thank you," Mifuyu whispered.

"So as your sister, I want to know why you’re doing this."

"It’s the only way," he muttered, tightening his hold on the Ensui. "It’s the right thing to do."

"For whom? You or me?"

That was easy. This was all for Mifuyu. But as he opened his mouth to answer, Mikagami hesitated. His sister’s knowing gaze told him what he didn’t want to believe.

"As much as you insist otherwise, giving up the Ensui and your life are for your benefit. Those actions will help alleviate and end your guilt, your grief..."

"And what’s wrong with that?" Mikagami cried, interrupting Mifuyu. He finally allowed some show of emotion, of the chaos inside him.

"I have nothing for me here," he sighed. "And then... Then I can be with you."

"You don’t see anything wrong with this?" Mifuyu asked again, gently. "Just giving up?"

"If anything, think about how I would feel, knowing my little brother ended a life full of promise, just to be with me."

"Promise of what?" he muttered, avoiding the issue she brought up. He knew, in the back of his mind, that the indirect suicide he was planning was indeed wrong. And, in the case of his sister, it would add insult to injury already done to her memory.

No one disputed the fact that Mikagami was very intelligent. But he could never win any argument against his sister.

"That’s why I love you so much," he said, giving voice to his thoughts. "And why I miss you. You always guided me, let me go around with my eyes open.

"I’ve devoted my all to you, neesan. Since you... I trained and I’ve fought entirely for you.

"And now..." Mikagami sucked in a deep breath, his voice cracking. "Now, that your... your killer is dead, I..."

His brow furrowed, and his lip trembled. "What do I have to live for, anymore?"

"So much, Tokiya! So much..." Mifuyu stepped forward. Mikagami turned away, his silver mane concealing his face.

"Tokiya, you’re lying to yourself when you say you fight only in my name. Every battle is a personal triumph, Tokiya. And what about Yanagi-san? You endured so much for her sake.

"You live on, Tokiya. You live on for everyone now. Recca, Domon, Fuuko, Ganko... you even protect Kagero-san whether she needs it or not. And there’s Koganei. I know you have a special place in your heart for that little boy."

Mikagami started slightly, the only sign that he had heard his sister, who continued.

"He is the little brother you never had. You see in him much of yourself when you were that age. And you want to be there for him, and try to protect him from the pains you experienced.

"Ever since you were little, Tokiya, I saw your desire to be an older brother. To guide and mentor others."

"Can you blame me?" Tokiya mumbled, and the smile in his voice could be heard. "How you raised me... I just wanted to let others feel that wonderful."

"But your thirst for revenge overrode that and darkened you, Tokiya."

"They... He deserved to pay," Mikagami clenched his teeth. "How can anyone be so heartless... Taking away such a bright beacon from the world... And no one deserved it less that you..."

His face was still hidden. Mifuyu bent down and looked up into his eyes.

They were filled with a tempest of anguish. He was less like the seventeen year-old master of the Hyoumon Ken and more six year-old Tokiya. Lost... He had no idea where to go, or where he was supposed to be.

The tears came, then. The barriers Mikagami had built around himself over the years broke finally. The effects of the last few days seemed to hit him physically, and he fell to his knees.

Dirt sifted through Mikagami’s hands as he curled his fingers. His head bowed, and his shoulders heaved with the intensity of his sobs.

Mifuyu knelt beside him, embracing him.

"I miss you, neesan," he moaned, through his hiccups.

"Tokiya." Mifuyu cried as well; her tears looked like miniscule gems.

"You miss me because you love me, and I am grateful for that," she said soothingly.

"But I can’t say the same to you. I can’t miss you, because I am always with you. And just because you cannot seek revenge anymore does not mean you cannot continue fighting for honor in my name."

Mikagami did not reply. He tried to calm his sobs. Revenge had been an ugly cause, and he had hated it, but he had never faltered in his pursuit for it. If nothing else, it had been the point of focus, why he pushed on.

To him, it seemed to keep his sister alive.

"Neesan... How... I can’t let you go," he whispered desperately.

"You don’t have to, Tokiya," Mifuyu replied. "Ever. We’ll always be part of each other.

"You don’t have to let this go either." She touched the Ensui. "It’s not evil. It’s not corrupt. And you haven’t betrayed me or damned yourself by using it. I gave it to you, remember?"

"Yes." Mikagami showed a ghost of a smile. "That has been its salvation."

"I’m glad you think so." She touched his cheek lovingly, tracing the tear tracks.

"So keep it, Tokiya. Go on using it for me. But most importantly, fight now for them."

"Even the sea monkey?" Mikagami asked with a smirk.

Mifuyu rolled her eyes. At least he could make jokes. "Yes. Even Recca," she laughed.

"I love you, neesan."

"I love you, Tokiya."

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"Mi-chan!"

Mikagami blinked. He was kneeling on the ground, dirt in his fingernails and his face tight from crying.

Fuuko and Kaoru ran up, panting slightly. "Why are you on the ground?" Fuuko demanded. Her face, however, showed concern at Mikagami’s appearance, far from his usual mien.

Mikagami searched for her, but Mifuyu was nowhere to be found.

"Recca-niichan’s dad is gonna start the fireworks," Kaoru announced. "Let’s go back."

Mikagami hesitated, then nodded. "Okay. Let’s go."

His hand found the Ensui, squeezed it affectionately, and put it in his pocket.

Arigato, neesan. I will keep fighting.