I didn't mean to make this chapter so sad, honestly. But please, dear readers, indulge in the wangstyness. Also, don't kill me, because there will be a concluding chapter after this. That, and if you kill me, I'll haunt you with a vengeance…

What I thought would be just another day of lamenting my death was turning out to be very interesting. Nakago, seemingly the sole enemy of my former comrades and I, was taking me to formally meet each of the Seiryuu seven. I numbered them off in my head, trying to guess who would be next. Nakago, Suboshi, Amiboshi, Tomo, Soi, Ashitare…

Before I could finish that thought, I stopped in my tracks, and felt like I had to collapse as I felt an all too familiar life force. I had pushed the feeling of it far from my mind, and subconsciously convinced myself I would never feel it again. But of course, I was naive to keep thinking that as I met the other warriors. He was, after all, one of them.

"Not here, Nakago," I pleaded with wavering eyes. "Not him."

"If not him, this is worth nothing. Now stand up in your company," he scolded me with an unsympathetic tone. "Besides, you've already beaten him before."

"But that's the entire reason I'm here now!" I became filled with anger. "If it wasn't for him… I…"

"Nakago!" that voice said. I froze and my hands clenched my ears in a reflex. "And that child. The one who beat me."

"Miboshi," the general turned to him. "This boy is no longer our enemy. You can stand to be a little more civil."

"Civil?" his form became visible. "You're asking a lot by that, and bringing him here." He must have looked down at me by that point, but I refused to look back, cowering in a little ball behind Nakago. "Hhm. Still afraid of me? Good."

No. I couldn't let him over take me again. In pure stubbornness, I turned to look him in the eye, and was surprised to see him floating in my form. "You still…" I growled.

"This is the easiest form to take, in my current state," he glared back, not seeming to mind looking like me. "Now what is it you want here?"

"I don't want to be here at all," I looked around, unable to tell just where I was. "The most civil thing to do now would be for me to leave."

"Then why didn't you leave me the heck alone back then? Neither of us would be dead now had you done that in first place."

Furious, my fists shook at my sides. "If you could have left me alone in the first place… or even if you had just kept your own body so long ago, no, neither of us would be here yelling at each other now."

"Perhaps fate had a hand in things," Nakago invited himself back into the conversation. "It's no use trying to change the past."

"Nakago, you scumbag, take this child away," Miboshi shot his voice in a different direction. He seemed less intimidated by Nakago than any of the other warriors. He seemed even less intimidated by me, even now.

"Chiriko," Nakago said with his eyes closed, and I became attentive to him. "Miboshi wishes that you leave. Please spite him by staying here until I return."

Before I could object, he had disappeared. "Nakago!" I angerly called out.

Miboshi bitterly rolled his eyes and rested his chin on his hand. "That man has no tact, showing up and leaving whenever he pleases."

"It's even less tactful to enter other bodies as you please," I sent him a passionate glare.

"And it's also tactless for a child to speak to their elder like that!" he pointed the needled top at me. My shoulders tensed up as I saw it again, and I immediately remembered how sharp it was. He took notice, and looked back at it. "You know, this was meant to draw forth demons, not blood. If you wanted so much to end your life, couldn't you have found a more appropriate weapon?"

"I didn't want to end my life at all!" I shouted. "It's was yours I wanted to end!"

"I don't like possessing bodies, if that's what you're so mad about. But in order to protect my priestess, I had no other choice."

"Then you can't be mad at me for killing us. I was only protecting my friends," I worked hard to sound confident.

"I'm not mad at you for killing us. Once you loose your own body, death isn't much different from just using another body. You should be mad at yourself for that one."

I wished he hadn't put all the weight of my death back on my shoulders. "Then what are you so mad at me for?"

"For defeating me," his eyes were fired up. "Every other body I possessed, child or adult, simply succumbed to me. You had to be the special one, even without the help of Suzaku's mark on your foot. Even worse, it seemed so easy for you."

"Easy?" I stepped backwards. "If fighting you had been easy, I would have taken you down in some other way… and who can say that I defeated you, when ultimately I died because of it."

"What difference does death make?" Miboshi gave me a very dignified glance. "Even in your last, weakest moments, you held me at bay. That's very commendable."

"I don't care if it was commendable. I'd rather be alive than commendable."

He shook his head with a sigh. "If you had just stayed out of my way, you would still be alive."

I thought back to how 'alive' I was when Miboshi had complete control over my body. At first, it was like all of my senses were dulled, and I had no sense of where I was. I didn't feel concerned about anything in such a dull state, until I heard Miaka and all of my friends calling me back. I slowly started regaining consciousness, but only to start drowning in his life force.

"Like you said before," I said quietly. "Once you loose your own body, you're not really alive anymore."

Perhaps, somewhat like Soi said, I should be thankful for my death. It set me free… free, except for the grudge I was still holding towards Miboshi. No one was making me hold it, but it was still so hard to let go of.

"This has gotten silly," he interrupted my thoughts. "You're not some super child who squashed me like a bug. You just happened to take me by surprise."

I looked back at him curiously, unsure what he was getting at.

"Besides, my ultimate destiny was to make sure my priestess summoned Seiryuu. My dieing efforts ensured that, and I no longer had any obligation to her, Seiryuu, or my fellow warriors. It was that obligation- no, more of an obession- that made me cling to so many bodies. If anything, I should thank you for making me take death over more useless bodies."

I certainly was surprised, but in my stubbornness, looked away with a scowl. "I don't think I can accept your thanks."

"I wasn't exactly offering it," he clarified, with a raised eyebrows. "What a brat you are. Go ahead and continue dwelling on your misfortune, while I go experience the afterlife like it's meant to be experienced."

My scowl quickly ran away he said those words. Really, the only thing keeping me from finding peace was my anger. Anger about having to cut my life short, before I could attain so many of my dreams. Miboshi was just a face to put that anger on. Too bad he currently was using my face.

"You're right," I swallowed my pride.

He gave me a very surprised look. "Pardon?"

"You're right!" I yelled, but then took a deep breath. "You're right. What I'm doing is silly. I'm letting… no, I'm making you keep me from being happy."

Miboshi continued to look very surprised. "So what you're saying is…?"

"I can't stay mad at you anymore," I said with a weak smile. "The best thing for me to do is forgive you for everything you did to me and my comrades."

He smiled, as if proud of himself. "Believe me, I did more to your comrades than to you. All I did was borrow your body, and I didn't harm a hair on your head."

"Please don't make this harder than it already is!" I pleaded, before my voice started wavering in desperation. "Will you accept my forgiveness or not?"

He closed his eyes, very content with the sound of that. "I accept. A reconciliation will do us both good." At that moment we were relieved of our grudges, his appearance changed from mine to that of a young man. It didn't take me long to figure out that was his true form from when he left his own body in the first place.

Miboshi turned around to float away, and offered a final comment. "It's also commendable that you could forgive me so quickly, and finally release me of that form. My only hope for you now…" he trailed off, as if a little sad, "…is that you can someday forgive yourself."

With that said, he was gone. I sunk back to my knees, reflecting on the burden I thought I had lifted. My anger had left, but with it also went the barrier penning up my sadness. Now the only face I could put on my death was my own.

No one was around for miles. Even if I was surrounded by people, I still would have felt that intense loneliness. I collapsed face down on the ground, without the will to pick myself back up. I was now free to mourn for myself again, wailing shamelessly until Nakago would return.