THE DAY OF KADAINA’S FUNERAL ARRIVED. Six pallbearers, namely Yukan Kenshi, David Maynard, Zenpan Imoru, and three members of the Akuni military, carried his casket to his final resting place. Once the funeral rites were read out, Zenpan walked over to seven gunmen and commanded a twenty-one gun salute. As the last shots rang out, Kadaina’s casket descended into the ground. Oba consoled her son and daughter as they cried, their noses running. King Yokina was in attendance, but watched from a distance, holding his head low in grief and in disappointment. Yukan, Ite, and Kadaina had broken their vow to return from the war together. As the attendees began to depart, Yukan, Ite, and Zenpan stayed behind. Finally, Yukan and Ite left, with Zenpan waiting alone at his pupil’s grave.
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Once Yukan returned to Murasakino, he headed straight to Kadaina’s planning room. The entire world felt bleak, as though it was devoid of any color. He went to the planning table and pulled out all of Kadaina’s plans from the drawer underneath the table’s south head. He laid them out and began scanning them over. He brushed his hands on his leg as he sat down, feeling a bump in his pocket. He reached into it and pulled out a white bishop, with Kadaina’s initials on the bottom.
Yukan’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment. He grasped the bishop tightly and slammed his fist into the table. Coming down from his momentary rage, he rested his arms on the table and his head in between his arms. Ite gently opened the door behind him soon after.
“You holding up alright?” she managed to muster.
“This has been going on for far too long now,” Yukan growled under his breath. “We need to take Kunshu out once and for all. We need a plan, and without…” His voice trailed for a moment. “Without Kadaina here, somebody needs to step up. We need to win this war. Too many people have already given everything they had to win and for what? Just so-”
“You’re grieving, Yukan,” Ite interjected. “Please just calm down and forget about the war just for a little-”
“No, I can’t!” he yelled out in frustration before pushing the table over. Ite flinched as it crashed into the floor.
“I can’t, Ite,” the swordsman continued. “Not right now. I just can’t. I owe him that much.”
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“You owe it to him more to take a breather and come to terms with what happened,” the archer replied. “He wouldn’t want you to force your way through the grieving process. He would want you to-”
“Don’t you see, Ite?!” Yukan lashed out. “It’s my fault!”
“Don’t be absurd, Yu,” Ite interjected. “You had nothing to do with-”
“I’m responsible,” he continued as if Ite weren’t there. “I should have been there when he needed backup the most. He was always there for me and I just let him go on without me. I stayed on the sidelines when I should’ve gone in with him. I wasn’t there for my best friend, Ite. I wasn’t there for him…”
“Yukan-”
“It should’ve been me, Ite. I would do anything to trade places with him so he could see Oba and Ani and Shisuta again, but I can’t. And why? Why couldn’t I trade places with him? Because of a sword? Because, if I die and that sword finds its way into Kunshu’s hands, Akuni will fall? Why even is that? He wants the Omega Blade, I can acknowledge that. But I don’t care if I ever hold the Alpha Blade or not. I didn’t even want to wield the Omega Blade. I didn’t want any of this!
“You know what I really wanted? I wanted my old life. I wanted to complete school. I wanted to graduate and marry you. I wanted to be able to wake up next to you every morning. I wanted to write music and hear it performed. I wanted a stable job- I wanted to have a normal fucking life! And now, here I am. My parents and my brother are dead, I’m fighting in a war, and I lost my hand. All over a fucking sword…”
The room fell silent, save for the rustling of the wind outside.
“Yukan, you really shouldn’t blame yourself for this,” Ite said in a hushed voice. “You might feel cursed because of Kunshu and all of this madness about that sword, but that’s just what fate had in store for you. It seems cruel, but fate deals whatever hand it pleases.”
Ite sat down beside Yukan.
“Kadaina knew what he was walking into. He knew the risks, but he knew even more that it needed to be done. He left you with that chess piece for a reason. He wanted to give you something to remember him by.”
“I’m scared, Ite,” Yukan confessed. “I don’t know what to do without him. We only got as far as we did because of him. Now I’m worried we’re going to lose all of it. I’m worried I’m going to lose everything.”
“I know,” she continued. “Things are going to get much more difficult without him, but there’s not much we can do other than keep on going. If not for ourselves, then for Kadaina. We’ll make it out of here. We’ll live the normal life you want. I guarantee it.”
Yukan stayed still for a moment before hugging Ite. It was the tightest hug he could muster, as if he were holding onto her for dear life. Ite stroked his hair as he sobbed. They had once more managed to find peace within one another for the time being.
