Epilogue: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?
It felt good to talk about the events of sixty years ago, though the project was dropped not long after I returned. Yui's body...though they never did identity her body, I knew it had to be her...showed up one night when some drunks coming home from a night of business drinking and karaoke found a young woman drowned. When I talked about her later to the friends that we both knew, they had no idea whom she was.
Her entire identity was truly erased.
As for myself...I decided to continue medical school and even got the government to pay for it. But...that's another story.
I don't remember how long I had been passed out after what happened that day, other than the fact that I had suffered some blood loss with the slash across my stomach. How and why it didn't kill me...I don't know. Perhaps Konosuke had saved me again by his magic or it just merely wasn't my time. When I came to, I saw a mixture of worry, relief and happy faces from the men and boys that had been under me. The complications of what happened with Yui had I came to light and some of my squad took me to task for not filling them in. That would be it, until the day after my saniwa anniversary when Kebishii took out not only Yamanbagiri, but both Mikazuki and Mitsutada as well. Mikazuki had died on the field and had already reverted back to sword form by the time that squad returned. Mitsutada, on the other hand, still survived, though by a thread.
"Please", he had been hit in the chest. My lover, once the strongest and most reliable of my men, grabbed my hand, "Sakura-chan...please move on with your life, okay? It's okay...all swords fall sooner or later..."
That night, alone, I sobbed, not only for the ones who died, but for Yui as well. I had wanted privacy but being in a building with men and children didn't guarantee me anything. I felt someone holding me.
"Now now", Tsurumaru was saddened to, though he still joked. "Mitsutada and Mikazuki died the way they wanted to."
I saw a shadow next to him: Ookurikara. He had been crying as well. I wiped my own tears and allowed the two to come in my room. A minute later, another knock. "Sakura-sama?" Hasebe was apparently concerned but saw me with the other two. "Are you surprised?" I asked him.
Ironically, losing Shokudaikiri drew us all closer.
I began cooking again, along with Hasebe, and promoted Higekiri, Koutestu and Izumi to captain spots. Six months later, I went back to my own time, after a long goodbye to all of my men and cried all over again at losing the three best friends I had. And as quietly as it began, my life as a saniwa had ended and I moved on with my life as much as I could. But not without a huge gap in my heart.
I was questioned for days and hours on end; what did I see exactly, what had happened, who had I seen and summoned with this new power of mine...it was all exhausting and intimidating. Especially when someone asked if I had slept with any of them. (I lied on that one.) I had surgery to fix my arm where the Kebishii that had served under Yui slashed me that one time. I recovered with my aunt and uncle, who negotiated with them over what money I should get, and as much I had missed all of them, moved on with my life. Mitsutada especially.
I had moved on somewhat reluctantly after him. Back at the citadel, Tsurumaru and Hasebe sought me out romantically but I couldn't even fathom seeing anyone else in that way. The pain was just too intense. Even when I recovered I still kept to myself, despite my aunt setting me up on dates with her friends' sons.
Is it weird being with a tsukomogami? Perhaps. But he was more human than anyone else. If he was a human man, I would've pledged myself to him.
The funny thing was, that it did turn out that way after all.
####
I never told anyone about the Revisionist Project, other than my aunt and uncle. Would anyone even believe me? I wouldn't even believe me. To my friends, I had simply gone away over night. What was a year in the alternative world was only overnight in my timeline. My injuries, I explained as fooling around, though my friend Amaya, who I had interned with, was convinced that I was kidnapped by deviants. The strangest thing is that my aunt had taken it all in stride, like she knew about my mother's ability. I thought about what Mikazuki had said about her and made a mental note to find where he was now and visit him. I owed him that much.
One afternoon, six months after I returned, I finished school and began working and interning with the doctor who would later become my mentor. Amaya worked with me. One afternoon, she walked in the back office where I had been doing paperwork with a big goofy grin on his face. "There's this guy out in the waiting room that looks like hell."
"We are a doctor's office."
"We get old people with hip problems and arthritis though. This guy looks young but he's all bandaged." Amaya licked her lips, "too bad. He's really hot."
"Is he the only one left?" I decided that I'll take Mr. Perfect's blood pressure and weight and ventured out to the waiting room.
My heart nearly dropped as the patient looked at me in surprise. This lasted for a minute until he hugged me so tightly that I thought I'd pass out. His smell, his warmth...it was my beloved tachi all right.
"I finally found you, Sakura-chan". Mitsutada grinned, "I finally found you at last!"
FINI
To everyone that read this...thank you so much for your time! I know I probably got some aspects of the game wrong. I had fun writing this anyway.
I swore this would be the last TR related thing I'd do...but I might have a few more in me.