A/N: No claim of ownership and no new warnings.

Everyone cheer for the final virtue, Yuu. I definitely didn't make it homophone with Kanda's first name on purpose...*cough*

I'd like to say thanks to everyone who's read Bushido thus far, I really do appreciate the support especially now that it's nearly over!

Also, I hope we all had a good Yullen week and maybe get an organized one next year... :D

Without further ado, the final virtue...Yuu!


Yuu

He was taught to accept death with bravery.

After all, Kanda Yu was a soldier. A slave.

A sacrifice.

He was taught that when the time came, he was to face his death nobly. To follow in the footsteps of the many exorcists who had died for the cause before him and follow them compliantly in the bitter end.

He was taught to be a fearless sacrifice.

To be courageous was to live with boldness and daring, to face death with humility and understanding and to leave this world without regrets or doubt. To be courageous was to have the might to leave behind the illusions and charms of this world willingly.

To be courageous was to understand that you were escaping all the lies and tragedies of this life and leaping into the murky unknown.

Yu stood there, leaning against the damp wall of an institution called the Black Order, Asian Branch. He didn't know what exactly that was, but it was there he had emerged when he awoke in that deep watery pool. He didn't know exactly why he was there, but he knew that it was cold and dark, full of sorrow and fear. Weakly he entered the room and gazed around at the innumerable pools that lay before him holding those innocent sleepers. The hot dampness trailing his cheek whispered his longing to sleep as they did, forever.

"This world is dark and it's so hard to breathe."

He was taught to accept death with bravery, not fight it.

Kanda Yu was not a deserter. A quitter.

A coward.

He was taught to never fight the inevitable when it was his time to die. To never belittle the exorcists before him and their sacrifices or dishonour them with cowardice.

He was taught to be a fearless sacrifice, not a wanderer.

To be cowardly was to continue living with audacity and obstinacy, to elude death with selfishness and foolishness and to remain in this world gladly and keenly. To be cowardly was to be smothered by the wanderlust that hypnotizes the victims of this cruel and cunning world.

To be cowardly was to want the miracles and lures of the tragic world you know and be swallowed by it lies and laughter.

Kanda stood in confusion for a moment in the ashen room. A room that he recalled had recently collapsed. A room that he had fallen along with, smiling. He should have died, but…

Visions that had filled his sight when the room caved once again pervaded his mind. Images of his final thoughts and reflections of his deepest unfulfilled desires. Thoughts he shouldn't have had and pictures he shouldn't have wanted. With a final look to the damned room he exited, allowing those wandering memories to lure him to the bright streets he knew to be above him.

"Tch…"

He was taught to accept death with bravery.

He was taught to never be cursed with the lust of life.

So why did he constantly turn his back on paradise for the tricks of this wonderful and horrid world, all for him?


A/N: Though I realize that Kanda had flashback of everyone and not just Allen before Skinn's room collapsed, I noticed that the Allen to everyone else ratio was fairly high. Definitely not intended by Hoshino, but I'm going to go ahead and write it that way anyways!

Is my love of irony too obvious?

Well, I've got studying and essay writing to get on so I've gotta go.

See you all tomorrow with the final installment of Bushido, Do or The Way!

A happy unhello to you all ~ moontoga29