Meguri Kyōza
Meguri Kyōza is a master of Hyōmon Ken, and is Tokiya's mentor. He's only mentioned in the earlier parts of the Flame of Recca series (both the anime and manga) through Tokiya's flashbacks, and then again when Kai tells Tokiya that it was Meguri Kyōza himself who killed Mifuyu. Nothing further is said about Meguri Kyōza in the anime series since it ended when the Ura Butō Satsujin was over, but in the manga, more is revealed about the mysterious Hyōmon Ken master.Truth and Lies
In the latter part of the manga (Volumes 30-31), Tokiya meets Meguri one last time, seeking the truth behind his sister's death. During their battle, every time Tokiya wounded his master, Meguri would tell him a "truth", and here they are in the order he stated them:
"Your sister's killer...that was, without a doubt...Meguri Kyōza."
Tokiya really didn't believe Meguri when he said so. It is only now that we confirm that Tokiya truly remembers what happened during the murder, unlike the first parts of the manga that lead us to believe that he didn't really remember what the men looked like. I'll get to explaining "Meguri's" answer in a while.
"I am one of the Uruha."
Meguri was part of the Uruha. Not only that, he was part of the Jyūshinshu (the ten strongest members of the Uruha). Up until Volume 23, one of the Jyūshinshu's identities was left unknown, but Aoi spoke to Meguri and referred to him as the "First General of the Jyūshinshu". More details on this below.
Confessions
"I can finally confess my crimes against Mifuyu...and...now I can finally discard
this revolting name. I can tell the whole truth to my grandson, Tokiya..."
Yes, "Meguri Kyōza" is Tokiya's grandfather. The name Meguri Kyōza isn't actually his real name (that's why I keep on italicizing it). It's a name taken up by a Hyōmon Ken practitioner once he has become a Hyōmon Ken master, and there can only be one master at a time. Taken literally, the two components of the name's defintion are as follows: Meguri means "to revolve", and "Kyōza" means "throne of madness". "Meguri Kyōza" could mean that the "throne" (note that the word "throne" may also mean a title or the power of one who sits on a throne has) of madness" is passed on, like a cycle that never ends.
"...I will take the responsibility instead of him."
Tradition demanded that Hyōmon Ken be passed on from one generation to the next. Meguri held true to that tradition, but before his son (Tokiya's father) could complete his training, he died in a car accident (along with Tokiya's mother). This meant that at the age of nine, Tokiya would have to inherit Hyōmon Ken in his father's place. Mifuyu vehemently refused to let Tokiya be trained because he was still young, and their parents' death had significantly affected him. She then offered to learn Hyōmon Ken in his place. This leads me to believe that when Meguri said "Your sister's killer...that was, without a doubt...Meguri Kyōza", he actually meant that this title, this inheritance of the Hyōmon Ken and Ensui, was the reason Mifuyu got killed.
Meguri was not the one who attempted to steal Ensui from Mifuyu and Tokiya
that fateful night. The two culprits were members of a group that would eventually become the Ura Uruha. Meguri was speaking to Jisho (one of the Uruha Jyūshinshu) in the
woods that night, and after murder, the (stupid) criminals felt "a murderous aura" heading
their way. They thought the aura was coming from young Tokiya at first, but they concluded that it was something else, and it was heading their way, so they ran out of the house and into the woods. Unfortunately for them, they ran into Meguri. He had this
really scary look on his face, like he could just about kill anything that crossed his path. He promptly chopped one of the criminals up, and the other turned to run the
other way, only to be blocked by Jisho, who just stared at him coldly as Meguri killed him as well. Jisho apologized sincerely for what happened, saying that those two were dishonorable and that they disgusted him. The thing of it is, the early Uruha wanted
to acquire as many madougu as possible, and Jisho said that Mifuyu was killed because of
the fact that she had Ensui in her possession.
Jisho took pity on Meguri (either that or he has very advanced techniques in manipulating
people), and asked him to join the Uruha, because that would mean that no one would be allowed to take the Mikagami family madougu (both the Hyōma En and Ensui were family
heirlooms) from them, meaning, Tokiya wouldn't be harmed. Meguri agreed to join them in order to protect his remaining grandchild.
With regard to Kai, Meguri used him as a sort of messenger, to tell Tokiya unjust things, such as Meguri being Mifuyu's murderer, so that Tokiya would face him and take revenge. After he was defeated, he asked Tokiya to kill him in order to avenge Mifuyu. Tokiya told Meguri...er...let me just refer to him as "Mikagami-ojiichan" in this part...he DID hate the name after all...anyway, Tokiya told Mikagami-ojiichan that there was no revenge to be exacted on him, and that Mifuyu surely forgave him for what happened. "More than my master, you're family," said Tokiya in an amazing display of kindness and
affection, "Before I came here, I met my sister (he went to the cemetary and Mifuyu showed
herself to him), and she was smiling. It may have been an illusion, but surely she forgives you...now you must stop blaming yourself!"
Mikagami-ojiichan obviously cared a lot about Tokiya. Tokiya approached him, saying "Hey, I heard you were a strong swordsman...teach me how to kill people...I have revenge to fulfill", and he took him in and trained him. Not only that, he cared for him when he
was sick, and made sure Tokiya was educated in more than swordfighting.
Tokiya: I don't need to study stuff like this, just teach me swordfighting--
Mikagami-ojiichan: Fool, do you plan to devote your life only to revenge? These are the literary arts...
Although we were lead to believe that Mikagami-ojiichan a.k.a. Meguri Kyōza was an evil man, and even though I hated him back when I was naive (i.e. I hadn't read the whole manga yet), I have a lot of respect for him, and I feel sorry that he had to die. ~_~
