16TH FIGHT: WHAT MAKES YOU STRIVE/DRIVE?

-XOXOXOX-

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-XOXOXOX-

"Trust. And people that you can trust.

It could probably be one of the most important things you got in your life, right?

I mean with it, you can do many things together with those that have each other's best interest in mind.

And speaking of trust, those little shits from The Inside that I ended up meeting…

All of them….

Well, most of them.

Some of them weren't just little shits, but massive turds. The elephant ones.

And especially those people of the Oymyakon… They seem like a nice group of people.

Though regrettably, I wasn't able to stay for very long…

But my brief, well, extremely brief visit to said frosty lands did net me with some new herbs that I never thought I'd see before.

This place just seemed to be a treasure trove of herbs with different usages just hidden under the snowy climate, with some being capable of blood-clotting, anti-inflammatory, and several other nifty benefits.

To an extent that is.

It ain't some kind of S*nzu Bean I'll tell you that.

But with a good enough concoction, not to mention nifty tools of modern plus ancient medicinal science, I bet that as long as the patient doesn't have something crazy serious, like a huge gaping hole in their body, I would be able to patch them up appropriately.

Though, whenever a situation like that would happen… Is something only left to time itself.

So I will.

And when a time comes that I could put my skills to use, then I will."

-Myoujou Kurogami's Oymyakon Travel Journal Entry #14 (Excerpt), 2002.-

-XOXOXOX-

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-XOXOXOX-

-Kuremisago Forest.-

'Hold on a minute…' Myoujou thought, scratching his head as he went through his journal that listed the herbs he collected so far and their uses.

'So if you mash it up into a paste and apply it to the skin, it helps somewhat with blood clotting, but if you ingest it, it causes stomach sickness if not death?'

'I can see the stomach sickness part, that makes sense... But where the hell does death come from?!'

'Like in poisoning… or from diarrhea?'

'What even…'

'But for Mother to know all of this, she must be quite the adventurous one back then, wasn't she…?' Myoujou sighed, shaking his head as he leaned against a tree.

'Don't tell me Mother knew about this because she ended up experiencing the consequences of this now…'

'No Myoujou. Do not think about that.'

He really didn't want such images in his head right now.

He was busy within the Kuremisago Clan's mountains, waiting on Shintarou alongside Saiga after the man excused himself for a 'bathroom break' in the woods.

'Seems like Mother had a whole world's worth of journal entries filled with journeys and stories within these letters.'

'But I can tell that these are just torn pages from the total story of what the journal should be…' Narrowing his eyes, Myoujou placed the letter between his journal and back within his red coat.

'So in that case… Where are the rest? The rest of the journal entries?'

Thinking so, Myoujou opened the amulet resting around his neck.

He didn't know why he decided to wear it at a place like this, but whatever it was deep down within his soul, he had no plans to fight it.

-click!-

-And inside said amulet was a picture of his mother; Misao Kurogami holding baby Myoujou in her arms.

If you were to compare the two facially now in a way, despite gaining the facial ferocity and aura of his father Yujiro Hanma; The Ogre, it seemed that most of his facial features were borne from that of his mother's.

It was just the way they were arranged and constructed that set them apart.

She was a lean woman, slightly thinner due to her illness with long raven-black hair similar to his, and a piercing set of hazel-brown eyes that drew a kind expression with thin eyebrows and full lips that were slightly raised.

Though her fair if not ghastly pale skin complexion was many tones lighter than the tanned-skin Myoujou, alongside his rather thick eyebrows that brought his somewhat chiseled face into a slight perpetual frown.

-A 'Thinker's frown'.

-'It's not an angry face, but the frown of a thinker.' He would tell Shintarou, to which Shintarou refused to call it so, labeling it an 'Angsty Pout', to much of Myoujou's annoyance.

'Could it be that the ogre has them? The other notes left by Mother I mean…'

'-No… I doubt it, he didn't seem like the cultured type…I mean, does he even read books?'

-rustle, rustle-

Hearing the rustling from the bushes, he knew that his rest time was nearly up and it would be time to move once again.

'Questions for a later time, I guess.'

But the one who came from the woods wasn't Shintarou, but Saiga Furinji, his, or rather his 'Sensei's' client who hired him on a little mission…

Well, if you could call it a little mission that is.

Their so-called mission was to follow Saiga and assist him in getting to the bottom of all the mess that was the Kuremisago Clan War; especially the instances of their own non-combatants getting massacred at that.

He didn't know much about the inner workings of said clan entirely, but what he did know was that they'd be paid handsomely for this mission.

But honestly though? He sort of felt bad for Saiga.

The man before him was a 'salt-of-the-earth' kind of fellow, a real stand-up guy in his opinion, with a family he wanted to protect and keep safe in these turbulent times, and then shit hits the fan twice over causing him to work overtime.

'It's like swimming in sewer water, and then when you finally get out of the sewers, a garbage truck dumps its load all over your face.' Myoujou shook his head at his own figurative example of Saiga's situation, before nodding at Saiga in acknowledgment.

"Hmmn. It's you."

Saiga gave a half-smile, something surprising for Myoujou considering the situation he was in. "Yeah, I wanted to chat with Mr. Shintarou, though it seems he may be a bit busy."

"Well, you don't have to know him to know how he carries himself." Myoujou snorted. "Even at a time like this, Shintarou would say; 'When nature calls, man should answer.' before going to do his thing."

"Haha… That seems like something he would do."

"Well, that's because it is."

A silence wafted through the two and their surroundings as the frosty chime of the wind steadily blew throughout the forest.

It may not have been something akin to a comfortable silence, but it sure wasn't an awkward one by any means, as neither of the two forced any conversation that they'd have no interest in continuing.

The shining-white snow with a hint of crimson from the morning sun piled up little by little upon the trees, its leaves, and the multicolored reddish-brown to green forest floor brought back many memories from the Oymayakon in Russia to Myoujou.

"Haaaah." Myoujou exhaled at the familiar feeling, his mind focusing even more as he cooled off.

The crimson morning light of dawn invoked a yawning sensation in many who saw it, as it attempted to dye the living world in its own shade of morning light-red.

To many, this light would be an omen of what is to come, but for Myoujou, it was just the start of a brand-new day.

"Seems you have a lot on your mind, Myoujou?" This silence however was broken by Saiga who stood beside Myoujou as he stared into the crimson morning sky.

Saiga looked over at the young Myoujou. Though it seemed like he was somewhat blank-faced, he could tell that the boy was trying to suppress the emotions on his face, to remain calm at all times.

In a way, it kind of reminds him of his best friend Senzui when they first met nearly a decade ago.

"Not much more than you would have, especially with a situation like this," Myoujou took a glance at Saiga, his eyebrows quirked with curiosity. "---But even then, what's it to you, Uncle Blondie?"

-'Uncle' + 'Blondie'

It was the final compromise between the rude boy named Myoujou and Saiga for him not to call someone who wasn't even in his late thirties yet an old man.

Apparently, to Myoujou it was one hell of a compromise to even consider, much less carry-out, but he did so regardless.

'No skin off of my back.' He thought.

-But still, why'd he ask?

"I'm just curious, is all." Saiga casually replied with a wave of his hands.

"I already know about Mr. Shintarou, the 'Phantom Titan's' story… Well, whatever I do know from hearsay anyways."

"But other than you being some prodigy disciple picked up from the slims of The Inside, there isn't much known about you… Probably explains why there's a lot of stray eyes peering at you these days."

"Ain't that so…"

To the surprise of none, he knew that there were a lot of hostile eyes on him because of Shintarou's work in the mercenary business, and he knew it would cause problems sooner or later for him.

"Well, I've got no intentions of living a peaceful lowkey life any time soon, so if problems come my way… As much as a pain they are, I'll deal with it head-on."

After all, if he wanted to get stronger, he would need to fight others, and to fight others he'd need to meet others.

So a lowkey life was the furthest thing away from what he wanted and needed.

"So, other than accompanying Shintarou, what would be your reason for getting intertwined in all of this…" Saiga asked.

"Reason, huh…" Myoujou murmured. "What is my reason…"

'Well, what even is my reason…'

It wouldn't be the first time he'd ponder on something like this, and the blonde standing across from him speaking to him would only bring it up within his mind once again.

"Hmnn… That's something I've been asking myself too."

It was an honest admission coming from the very heart of the boy named Myoujou Kurogami.

No matter how much he mulled over it, other than 'getting stronger',  he just couldn't genuinely focus fully on a concrete goal.

'I remember saying before that I fought just to survive…'

'But before that, I said years ago that I wanted to be ruler… A King… The Prime Minister…' Myoujou frowned at the thought, as it was bringing up some rather sore memories for him.

' —Then I realized that the reason why I wanted to get stronger probably wasn't there anymore… Wasb't alive, so to say…'

'But really, how much of it could be true, and how much of it could just be childish gibberish?'

Chuckling softly at the sight of a frowning Myoujou who was deep in thought, Saiga continued on as he turned his gaze at the now morning winter sky, ignoring the snowflakes that settled on his vest and light-blonde hair.

"You see…" Saiga continued on, snapping Myoujou out of his thoughts. "I've always wondered about things of that nature for a long time."

"---That so?" It wasn't surprising to hear in the least as Myoujou had somewhat expected it, but hearing it from the horse's mouth was a whole other deal.

"Yeah, about my role in life. My fate. My destiny. Actions one can take, good, bad, or even in between, and whether they even matter in the end." Saiga said.

"But, the most important part to me is… 'How I can help others'. It's my 'raison d'etre' of sorts."

"No clue about what you just said, your 'raisin' or whatever, but I'm gonna guess it's another word for 'reason' or 'goal'."

"Mmhmn."

The sound of Saiga's faint chuckle caused Myoujou to raise his eyebrows, wondering what was up now.

"Hahaha, My bad. Seems like I was just rambling on, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, you were. But, it's cool. You made me think about it once again." Myoujou sighed. "Besides, it's not like I've never thought about it anyway."

"Is that so…"

"Yeah. So to answer your question, Uncle Blondie," Myoujou turned his gaze to the frost-filled snowy sky. "Right here, right now… The reason I want to gain strength…"

Myoujou thought back to the past, the twilight era in which he lived in peace and prosperity with his mother and her aides, the troubling times together with his father; The Ogre, and finally his tumultuous times within The Inside.

What was the reason he kept on persevering?

"It would be… so that my words could matter." Myoujou firmly said.

"So your words— could matter?" Saiga asked.

"Well, yeah. That's the best way I put it at this point in time."

A brief flicker of emotion flared across Myoujou's face, it being a tinge of embarrassment once he was self-aware of his own words which he firmly believed in.

" —Sounds like a silly excuse, huh? Like a child starved for attention, but hey, that's my reason."

"Now I'm no philosopher, but I do know that when you got money, power, and influence, then whenever you talk, people will listen, and if you've got those three at once and lots of them at the same time, then most things will be easier at the very least…"

"So basically it's kinda like this;" Myoujou gestured with his hands as he mimicked a scale weighing two different scenarios. "-If you're poor, then you can't really donate much to charity by yourself, since you'll have to live within your means…"

"So instead of trying to help others out, you should make sure that you're the one that's doing fine, y'know?"

" —But if you got loads of cash, you could donate and help out even more."

Looking at Saiga who stayed silent whilst listening to him, Myoujou scratched his head in a rare show of bashfulness. "Well, it's an idealistic scenario sure, but that's what I believe anyway."

"Haaa… How youthful." Hearing what the young Myoujou said, Saiga sighed deeply.

'So that's your reason.'

For a kid to keep on striving in a world like this…

—A reason like that isn't so bad, now is it?

Everyone has a reason to keep on moving, and in the end, the only thing that differed with each individual was the intensity.

How far would one go for their own goals if it meant that they would be fully realized?

Even Saiga himself was desperately seeking answers to these questions.

-rustle, rustle-

Taking both Myoujou and Saiga out of their thoughts the rustling bushes beside them parted to reveal a satisfied Shintarou who had yet to pull his pants all the way up.

"Alrighty then, let's get going." Shintarou said, still fidgeting with his belt buckle.

"Took you long enough geezer, were you shitting your soul out or what?" Myoujou's face scrunched up. "And pull up your pants, you geezer."

"Pipe down, ya' cheeky brat! A man gotta do what a man's gotta do!" Walking over to where Myoujou stood, Shintarou swiftly placed him into a rough headlock.

"You should know this by now kid; 'When Mother Nature calls…"

"-'Man should answer!' I get it, I get it, so let go, Old Man! Did you even wash your hands!?" Myoujou yelled as Shintarou nuzzled his head. "And your pants are still down!"

"Haaa…"

Looking at the Master-and-Disciple pair bickering in a rather laidback fashion during a situation like this, Saiga sighed as he rubbed his forehead.

'Gaining the strength needed to have your words matter in this life…'

His mind still wandered on the thoughts of the young Myoujou arguing beside him.

Even if Myoujou's wording wasn't the most eloquent thing in the world, the meaning and purpose of his words were already delivered to Saiga succinctly.

'I can somewhat see where this kid is coming from, or rather. what he's trying to say.'

Shortly after, the three took off once more, heading to the manor in order to both find Senzui and end this civil-like war.

Gaining strength to have your words matter huh

'Senzui, this bloodshed between both sides, we need to end it.'

Saiga's eyes shone a determined blue.

It was the look of a man that had made up his mind, and wouldn't budge even when facing pressure as large as a mountain.

It was the look of a man on a mission.

'With our power, I'm sure we can do it.'

-XOXOXOX-

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-Thirty Minutes Later.-

-Kuremisago Forest.-

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-XOXOXOX-

The trio of martial artists; Furinji Saiga, Satou Shintarou, and his disciple Kurogami Myoujou made their way through the Kuremisago Forest with a somewhat tense swiftness.

Their strides weren’t exactly filled with enough intensity to be called a sprint nor a rush, but it wasn’t relaxed enough to be considered a jog either.

-To them, it was a simple and quick orderly movement meant to save stamina for the future.

That was when you take into consideration the physique of a martial artist in this world of course.

The trio cut through the wind at a speed that put nearly all of the fastest Olympian sprinters at their best to shame, as they blurred past a seemingly endless amount of trees and forest life that thanks to the snow were slowly turning snow-white rather than its earthly green

-And this was done without going all out.

What they saw along the way paled to the utter destruction of the manors previous to it, but the sight of crimson blood and unmoving corpses strewn about never failed to send danger signals to the trio.

Just like the old days when the ancestors walked across the commercially-undeveloped Earth and came across a dead body, whatever it was, these danger signals usually meant; ‘Beware. Whoever/ Whatever caused these deaths are still lurking on this very land.’

Myoujou cast a solemn glance at a particular corpse that seemed to have a fist-sized hole in its chest.

“Not liking this one bit, Shintarou.” Myoujou scowled.

Myoujou knew when someone was trying to show off.

It was too showy. Myoujou had seen death. He had seen executions. And he had seen when it was carried out swiftly, and when the executioner wanted the victim to suffer.

And in this instance, the culprit or culprits were clearly trying to show off.

It was as if they knew they were being watched and just threw anything they could in the way, not to hide, but to display it all in a ‘LOOK WHAT I DID!’ kind of manner.

“Whoever did it’s sending a message all right, and they don’t care who’s seen it.”

“If we were to say that it’s the same freak that’s going around dressed as Uncle Blondie over here killing people, then who’s to say that this fella doesn’t want things to get crazy between both sides?”

“And if these Kuremisago fellas are supposed to be highly trained ninja-assassin-combatants, and they're all spread out and dead, then things are gonna get a lot crazier when whichever group of sickos decide to show their faces..”

“You may be right on the money, kid.” Shintarou nodded. “Seems like you’ve got a real monster up in your home, eh Saiga?”

“A man.” Saiga corrected, “A human being who’s about to be caught given their due payment.”

“Hmmn?” Shintarou hummed.

“I mean that there’s no such things as monsters Mr. Shintarou. They don’t exist after all.” Saiga said. “What does exist are animals called humans, and the rest of the animal kingdom. No more, no less.”

“And at the end of the day, no matter what this culprit tries… They’re only human…”

“---And humans are not infallible. So we’ll catch the culprit without fail.”

Myoujou couldn’t see Saiga’s expression since he was facing in front of him, but he could tell what Saiga might be feeling at this instance based on how cold yet resolute his voice sounded.

‘Uncle Blondie’s pissed. But then again, if some freako got dressed up as me and started shanking people in an effort to pin the blame on me, then I’d also get pissed. Anyone would for that matter.’

“Aye. You Furunji’s sure are scary when you get riled up.” Shintarou said as they kept their brisk pace.

Striding through the once-green forest trail, there was something that slowly settled in Myoujou’s mind.

You see, if Myoujou’s mind was a succulent sweet little apple sitting on the porch, then this thought was a pile of worms crawling all over said fruit, eventually burrowing their way into its core.

And this worm-like thought in question was quite the nagging one, prodding and poking about in his brain.

It started out fairly mild, like the pitter-patter of snow falling, before pilling up into something big at the back of his mind.

It wasn’t some grand question about the theory of life, or the morality of taking said life, and while it was morbid, in the grand scheme of things it was but a seemingly innocuous one.

‘Two, four, six, eight…’

‘Twelve, twenty-four, thirty-six, forty-eight…’

Naturally, this wasn’t him counting the two and twelve times table.

His formal education ended the moment The Ogre plucked him out of his comfy home and shucked him into The Inside after all.

What he now learned in terms of academics mainly belonged to the books he bought with spare change Shintarou would leave him with.

But rather, what he was counting was the number of corpses he’d seen on his way to their destination.

“Hey Geezer, Uncle Blondie!” Myoujou spoke up. “How many people usually live in a village, huh?”

“Usually a couple hundred, kid,” Shintarou said as raised his eyebrow in thought. However, just by Myoujou’s question, he seemingly grasped the gist of his disciple’s inquiry. “---But if you’re asking about the Kuremisago… Then I’ve got no clue.” 

“Roughly seven-hundred and fifty.’ Saiga said. 

“Roughly?” Myoujou said.

Saiga nodded. “I said ‘Roughly’ because, at one point in time, the total estimate of those that lived here together was into the late-hundreds to early-thousands.

“Then…” Myoujou trailed off as his brows furrowed, thinking back on the corpses he passed by.

“Well, those numbers are definitely not the same at this moment, Myoujou.” Saiga simply said.

Myoujou realized. It meant that these guys have been doing this for a long, long time.

‘Why…?’ Myoujou thought.

It wasn’t like he felt some kind of remorse or sympathy for said people who passed away.

‘Why are they picking each other off like this?’

He knew it was because of a disagreement— frankly, nearly all events that erupt in fighting between others started with a disagreement.

He just wondered why.

“But aren’t you guys super strong?” Myoujou spoke in Saiga’s direction, drawing his attention.

“Hmmn?”

“Yeah so, I’ve been meaning to ask this, but what’s so serious between you guys that are so strong, you could probably go against the military and win that you have to pick off your own fellas…” Myoujou said, his eyebrows pulled downwards.

“So you’re wondering about that too, huh?” Shintarou said.

For the longest while he’d seen these clansmen go at each other in a seemingly endless fashion, only being able to put some sense into the madness as of late.

Myoujou said, “Yeah I am. I can’t help but wonder why. I know this is kinda naive, and I know that you fellas don’t get along, but after this many casualties, there still isn’t a conclusion?"

Even if Saiga was someone typically considered an ‘outsider’ despite marrying the ‘crown jewel princess’ of the Kuremisago Clan, Myoujou still thought that maybe Saiga’s own perspective on this situation could help clear things up for him.

“Well… This is all I’ve collected as an outsider,” Saiga breathed out as he continued, “---But things have always been skewed with the Kuremisago from a long time ago…”

“You see, from the beginning the Kuremisago Clan was solely fine-tuned for one main aspect; The pursuit of power.”

“Gaining… Strength?” It wasn't much different than what Myoujou wanted, so it wasn’t something hard for him to believe.

“Yes. To put it shortly, it was gaining strength to assist the continuous progression of the bloodline no matter the cause.” Saiga resumed.

As silhouettes of buildings steadily eased their way into their sights past the collection of many snowy forest trees, Saiga thought he should wrap up his explanation quickly.

“But as the years passed there grew a drift between those that wanted to continue such methods, versus those that wanted strength but by different means.”

“The Traditionalists Mainline versus the Rebels they would call it.” Saiga finished his explanation.

‘Which is natural since said Traditionalists don’t look very fondly regarding my marriage with Shizuha… Which I’m sure fueled it somewhat…’ Saiga thought to himself.

“Is that so? Huh.” Myoujou muttered. “Was this one of the reasons why they hired mercenaries even with the whole anti-outsider policer they had going on? “

“That’s correct. Though as you can see, evident by all this destruction and death, is what Shizuha, the others, and I were trying to avoid” Saiga said.

“Though it seems that something is trying to get in the way of that.” Shintarou reminded the two.

Seeing his disciple's silence he patted Myoujou’s back, but as usual, he did it with enough force plus the speed that they were running that it nearly sent Myoujou flying face-first into the patchy snowy ground.

“Ack—!? W-what the hell!?” Myoujou yelled, regaining his sense of balance just in time to avoid face-planting into what appeared to be snow… Or rather a snow-covered boulder.

— A quite large snow-covered boulder.

And although wouldn’t hurt him that much, it would be a pain to deal with.

“It's the way things go kid, with all of this infighting and stuff.” Shintarou sighed. “At the rate this place is going, if it keeps up, I bet this place might turn into a ghost town soon enough.”

“...”

Hearing Shintarou’s words, Saiga's face crumpled a bit, before returning to his previous blank expression.

“We’re here.” Saiga said, slowing down to a simple walk. “Here’s where most of the Rebellion stays.”

“So this your little meeting place huh…” Shintarou murmured seeing the relatively peaceful mood of this area.

“Yeah, no joke. It feels like a regular village.” Myoujou couldn’t help but say.

Putting it simply, it was quaint.

The regular Japanese village home structures were in place, and if Myoujou’s eyesight was that good, then the house he peered into from several meters away had tatami-styled mats as well.

As expected of the Kuremisago Mountains, there was lush forestry as always, though they looked snow white and the pathways to the buildings were paved nice and clean.

Well, that’s what Myoujou would think if they weren’t covered in several inches to feet of snow.

‘I mean, it’s fine. Just like the main entrance I came in through a few days ago.’ Myoujou thought.

“You seem to be a bit disappointed, Myoujou?” Saiga wryly smiled.

“What? No, no, of course not… I was just surprised.” Myoujou muttered. While not exactly the truth, it wasn’t necessarily a lie either.

Rather than some underground base or multi-story building, it was just the same old manors and buildings they saw earlier.

The only difference was that the stench and aura of blood weren’t attached to this area.

“It’s just that it…well, looks different than what I thought a resistance camp would look like.”

“Ah, a kid’s hyperactive imagination! Don’t tell me you thought it was some flying ship like in one of those beep-boop games they have…”

"..." Myoujou stayed silent.

"Well, once again, here we are." Saiga said.

Walking into the town filled with wood-brown and cream-colored houses that looked like they came from the late Edo period, Myojou could feel the tense atmosphere immediately. It was as if someone increased the gravity of the Earth, and it all pressed down on his head as the focal point.

-mummer, mutter, mummer, mutter-

The suspicious stares and whispers coming from multiple Kuremisago Clan members who tracked him with hawk-like eyes as he walked with Shintarou and Saiga were definitely the source of this pressure.

It wasn't upsetting nor uncomfortable in the slightest to Myoujou whatsoever, but he still took notice of it regardless.

After walking around a well in the middle of the town, they finally reached their destination as they spotted two men standing by a tatami wall-styled door, seemingly waiting for someone or thing.

"Lord Saiga, you're here." One of the men nodded. "And you've brought-"

"It's fine. I asked them to come along, so I can vouch for them." Saiga said. "---Besides, now isn't really the time for all of that, right?"

The duo nodded apologetically, and the tatami door slid open, allowing Saiga, Shintarou, and Myoujou in.

And as soon as they went in, Myoujou heard a familiar voice.

"You're here, Saiga. How have you been doing lately?" The voice sounded warm and kind, though to Myoujou ear's, there was a slight feeling of melancholy, as if the voice was tinged with a touch of sadness. "And you've brought guests?"

From what Myoujou could tell from the woman sitting, she was a fair-skinned woman with grey eyes, and waist-length black hair styled with short fringe bangs that reached her cheeks.

She could only be one person, and that was Kuremisago Shizuha, now Furinji Shizuha.

As Myoujou nodded in greeting, Saiga began to explain why he brought the Master-Disciple pair as Shizuha's eyes seemed to gaze inquisitively at him before resting her eyes on Saiga as she sighed.

"Saiga, it seems that everyone will be here shortly, including Senzui," Shizuha said. "After that, we can go over our end goal in solving this conflict we..."

"...Yes, and then we can..."

"...Is that so? Well..."

But as Shizuha, Saiga, and Shintarou started to explain the end goal of the Kuremisago Rebels, Myoujou zoned out after hearing Senzui's name.

Call it ignorance, instinct, or a super strong gut feeling, but he didn't really trust the guy, no matter how amicable the man tried to put himself across as.

"So this is it, huh? The final stretch of this arc of sorts." Myoujou thought.

"I don't know, but something's telling me that a 'ceasefire' is the last thing that's gonna go down in this place."

"I don't wanna think so negatively and be a 'negative-nancy', but my instinct is yelling..."

"---And when it yells, I can't help but listen."

But even then, what Myoujou didn't know was...

-That tonight would be the last night that he'd be able to sleep somewhat comfortably for a while...

-And that tomorrow, would truly be the beginning of a hectic if not disastrous day ahead for nearly everyone involved.

-XOXOXOX-

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16TH FIGHT: WHAT MAKES YOU STRIVE/DRIVE END

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-XOXOXOX-

-XOXOXOX-