At the summit of Mount Hiba, piles of ashes lay scattered among the gray bones covering the ground.
Whoosh! The wind scattered the ashes as Ryushiki landed in the empty patch he had deliberately avoided earlier. He looked at the dying Tensato, sorrow clouding his face.
Tiansha Dou's unfocused pupils shifted upward slightly. A faint smile appeared on his barely breathing face. "Well? Fighting felt pretty good, didn't it?"
"..." Ryushiki remained silent. However much his mind resisted it all, his body could not lie. Fighting had brought him an unprecedented sense of exhilaration and release.
Ryushiki said, "I don't like fighting to kill. I prefer what you said... fighting to protect."
Tiansha Dou said, "Protecting yourself is still protection. Fight for yourself. Fight to stay alive. Someday, you'll find someone truly worth protecting."
"..." Ryushiki did not answer. A glistening trail slid down his cheek, ending in a salty tear that fell onto Tiansha Dou's face.
With mixed emotions, Tiansha Dou said, "Oh, are you crying for me? You really are hopeless. I was trying to kill you just now, you know. To protect someone more important to me, I had to shamelessly drag you with me to the Yellow Springs..."
Ryushiki wiped the tears from his face and said solemnly, "Tiansha Dou, I don't blame you."
At those words, Tiansha Dou's heart shuddered. They were the words of absolution he had longed most to hear. Bloody tears welled in his eyes, and he offered a heartfelt "Thank you."
As his life ebbed away, Tiansha Dou could no longer even keep his eyes open. He said weakly, "Ryushiki, give me a funeral. Cremate me..."
Ryushiki said, "It'll hurt."
Tiansha Dou said, "Compared to your suffering, that's nothing. Besides... I've drifted with the current all my life. At the very