"Haha-ue!" A little boy ran to his mother, grabbing her by the flowing strips of her kimono. Taller men stood before them, talking in rough and coarse languages. Despite the near emotionless features on her face, she was getting irritated by the moment.

A subtle hand flexed inward to the small sword daggers at her belt. Her opposite to the back scabbard.

And when it seemed like blood would rain, the men walked away, pleased by their talks.

She finally turns to the boy and bopped him on the head.

"Rokurou-chan." She sternly looked at him. "Do not bother me like that again. You shall wait your turn."

The young boy sniffled. And the mother sighed, "Did you do your morning practices?"

"I-I finished…"

"Good, now go eat your breakfast. Your brothers are waiting for you."

With tears in his eyes, the little boy ran off, leaving the elder Rangetsu to herself.

Rokurou found himself grasping at the ceiling. It wasn't the night skies he found himself when travelling or the occasional tie up when a bandit or two decided hold him down.

Having a daemon eye open in the night made sure he wouldn't be felled so easily.

Getting up and sitting at the edge of the bed, he rubbed his face. From the light crack of the window, the sun still hadn't come out yet. But it was time to get ready. Ready for another battle. A sword day. A blood day.

Like clockwork, he washed his face and body, staring at the mirror. Years ago, he kept hair covering his right eye. Now, he pushed it off to the side, giving slightly better vision. The light scar on his cheek was a reminder of that mistake.

The swordsman finished his cleaning before stretching, flexing every muscle he needed for the next mission. He heard it was for a daemon that not even his brother could defeat.

Blood pumped in anxiety. He was getting ready for this.

Finishing up with the last of his routine, he donned the clothes he wore. A wandering swordsman just carried what he could. No backpack by the one he could fit onto his sash.

Gathering Stormhowl and Kurogane Swordquell, he made his way downstairs.

Peter waited downstairs, flipping a small pancake. To the bar's counter, Velvet and Amelia were waiting, all ready.

"You managed to drag her into this too?"

"She's my escort to Eleanor. Wouldn't know where to find her."

The brunette shrugged as she pinned her hair up. "And I'm curious where this mission is going too. So, you'll just have to deal with us."

"Do we have to bring you along?" He groaned.

"Fuck off and you."

"If you're willing."

Velvet rubbed her temples. They were going to go at it this early?

Thankfully for the daemon's sanity, Peter broke their petty squabble by clearing his throat. "In either case Rokurou, we found the target."

"Oh? So where is this daemon?"

"In the old Rangetsu manor besides the Capalus estate."

The young ronin took a moment to reflect what he said. Thumbing his words, his hair drooped over his eyes. The Capalus estate, where the Rangetsu family was interned to their lords. A lot of people would want to loot an abandoned house, even if it was from a disgraced lord.

"What happened to the Asgard garrison that was supposed to be guarding the manor?"

"They've suffered massive casualties trying to fend off the daemon. A few wanted the crown to take action and Percival said he would."

"So this job came from him as well."

"Naturally."

Scratching the back of his neck, Rokurou stared up at the ceiling then back down. "Alright. We'll go now." He turned to Velvet and Amelia. "It's about an hour to get there."

Peter walked over to the door, opening it to the fresh air outside. Just outside, a carriage and driver waited for them.

"Our men shall escort you there. Take caution, all of you."

As they walked outside and took their seats, the light rumble of wooden wheels against the cobblestone and brick streets, Rokurou looked through the windows.

"Never thought I'd be coming back home."

"Really? You never went back?" Velvet asked.

"Never had a reason to go."

"The Rangetsu family has always been the dagger in the dark for the Asgard Dynasty. The loyalty of the Capalus's hinged on it." Amelia leaned in. "I overheard from the other Bloodwing's that you and Eleanor took down Lancelot, turned into a daemon. He called himself a 'Lord of Calamity'."

Velvet ground her teeth at the mention of it.

"Was he though?" Amelia frowned.

"Uhhh..." He scratched his head, looking back at his former 'charge'. "Velvet, remember the times when you were fuming out malevolence?"

"Yeah, I remember. It was after the first fight with Innominat."

"Well… Lord Capalus had something like that. But it was more warped. Like all that malevolence he was spreading was distorting the world around him."

She crossed her arms. "He wasn't the only ones calling themselves 'Lord of Calamity' wasn't he?"

"A lot of daemons. And I'm sure a few corrupted malakhim too."

Silence hung for a moment before Rokurou leaned back, looking at the legate. "Amelia, how was Eleanor the last time you saw her?"

"Huh?" Caught off-guard, the woman tilted her head. "Focused, I guess. Maybe a bit tired? She just wanted to get this whole 'gather four elemental empyrean blessings' thing over with."

Flexing his fingers for a moment, he looked back outside. They just passed out of the city and into the fields.

"So, tell me something." Velvet spoke up. "You never really liked talking about your family. And now, seven years later, you didn't even visit your old house?"

The yaksha shifted in his seat, legs crossing over one another. "Haven't crossed my mind until now."

"Did you even live there long enough?" the other woman raised an eyebrow. "From what I've read up, the Rangetsu family hardly stays in the household. Only the Shigure does. And from what we know, the only 'Shigure' now is you."

"I'm… not the Shigure." He shook his head. "Seven years later and the world's gotten a lot bigger. It's not gonna be my title for a long time."

"What?" Velvet teased, "Artorius wasn't good enough for you?"

"Come on, we only managed to take him down as a group."

"A collection of wrong-doers. Doing right."

Proud of their accomplishments, the other black-haired woman sighed, drumming her fingers against the carriage frame. If they were going to face something to even force former legate Shigure back, they would need all the strength they need.

-.-.-

Stained white and blue walls boarded the Rangetsu household. Unlike the towering Capalus mansion in the front, the complex was made horizontally. Foreign curved roofs lined every top, but several of them collapsed from the vacancy over seven years.

Smaller grass roots have slowly overtaken the stone steps into the house.

And Rokurou scuffed his shoe into the dirt. With swords still sheathed, he entered through the front, the door's sliding mechanisms scuffing and snapping along the way.

The malevolence in the area wasn't too high. In fact, it seemed almost too low. He'd never suspect a daemon, much less one that Shigure fought, was here. Lailah covered her mouth as she entered, but quickly clasped her hands in her lap.

"Ooooh rustic!"

The yaksha's fingers traced the walls, looking back at the old memories. Six brothers. One mother. A bunch of servants and Rangetsu-branch family guards. This place would've been teeming with life. Or at the very least, ringing with the sounds of blades.

Now they were all dead. Scattered across the lands by the various nobles, mercenaries or just dumb luck.

"Rokurou?"

He turned, seeing Velvet, Amelia, and Lailah looking at him with various levels of concern.

"Sorry. Just a bit nostalgic."

Walking further, the wooden boards creaked. Reflexively, he leaned forward and the sounds quieted. Velvet and Amelia didn't bother.

Down the hallways, Rokurou looked at the rooms. Various blankets and pillows were tossed around. Even the looters didn't bother with things here.

"Haa… I remember my mother used to herd all up. Sometimes hitting us with a bamboo stick." He sighed. Fingers nervously drumming against the walls.

It was a beat he and the Rangetsu Clan practiced to. The sounds of strikes and shouts, punctuated by exhaustion and whimpering.

"This is a little sensitive but," Velvet rubbed her chin, snapping the young man back. "You always talk about your mother. Did you know your father?"

"No. Not a single thing. And I'm sure Shigure knew just as much about him too."

"Did he try to claim the 'Shigure' title?"

"I guessed. Shigure thought the same too but… It's something we'll never know."

The group grew silent until Lailah asked, "So where are we heading? Do you know where this daemon is?"

"If I were a daemon lurking here, I think there's one place I'd be." He smiled. "Our old little pray spot."

Confused at first, the women followed right behind him to the largest sliding doors of house. The young samurai reached out and pulled back. For a moment, he stood there staring at the door.

Rokurou slid the doors out for the rest to see.

A large open area carved into the ground with sand. It looked like a small stadium for fighting, with wooden raised areas for an audience to watch. In the back several stone steles, inscribed in another language.

But in the center of the room was a beast. Kneeling before the statues, with blades surround itself. Two hand-and-a-half swords with double-handed blade before the alter.

Noticing the guests, the beast turned, head still bowed. Darken eyes gazed from malak to human and daemon. Rokurou brushed his hair back, daemonic eye glowing like a smoldering coal.

"You dare stand in sacred grounds… Unless you come for a duel?"

"A woman's voice?" Velvet and Amelia muttered to themselves. Lailah stared at the daemonic wyvern before Rokurou stepped forward.

"More than a duel." He swiped out both blades. "All of us. Against you."

The daemon darkly chuckled, standing back up. Taking its weapons and beating its chest, it roared. "The more, the merrier!"

Grouping up, Velvet, Rokurou and Amelia dove in, blades the ready. It took a moment as the winds split the wooden walls. Wielding the larger of the weapons, the beast hacked at them, arching a swipe that gorged the sand.

Fire ignited behind the three, great flames rose like vipers and burned the daemon's armor. But it would not deter.

Sparks glowed as edges caught one another. Velvet hacked at the armor, slipping between the plating. But the daemon's skin was just as hard. The wyvern grappled her shoulder, flinging her away into the benches.

Amelia smashed in, swapping her twin-blades for a warhammer. Hurling her weapon at the monster, she roared, "Hammer toss!"

The beast curled back, the banging blows returning as she spun and turned into the next hit. "Pow hamme-!-?!"

Time seemed to freeze. Blades glowing a deep azure color. A red crescent moon came into view as Amelia screamed, flung through walls. "Chigetsuryuu… Hayabusa!"

Lailah immediately retreated while Velvet and Rokurou forced the being back. Like flames to the shadow, continually batting against the dark. Even flames have their limits, their wicks burning to the ends.

Soreness poured like lava into the yaksha's body. Every thrust, parry, and slash reflected off as much as the beast did to theirs. They were steadily losing. He was steadily losing. Twisting his wrist as the next hit stuck into the ground beside him, Rokurou hacked again. A glimmer of a smile broke between him and his prey. Faster and faster yet, their ballet sparks and swords accelerated into a full storm. The air violently reverberating with every hit and miss.

Centuries of Rangetsu combat against another swordsman, refined through age.

Sparks glowed in his eyes as he pulled back. His legs, jelly. The daemon stood tall, bellowing.

"Tremble…! Die knowing your edge is dull to the Shigure!"

He stood once more. The single glowing eye turned to two. Yet there was trembling in his arms and legs. Fingers squeezing harder on the hilts of his swords. Time slowed as he curled in, ducking beneath the first swipe. Twisting his entire body into the slash, it cut deep.

Yet another flash of red came to view. Rokurou stared at the blade as the beast backed off. Velvet's leg slashed and pushed the monster back before the beast shoved passed her.

"Finish it!" She roared.

Blade caught blade. Ronin versus ronin. Daemon against daemon.

"Rangetsuryuu…
"Kokuujin Oogi…

"Akumetsu!"

Paint brush strokes batted one another. Sparks hailed like raindrops as the very sand and dirt kicked with every blow. In the back, Amelia and Lailah clung onto the seats.

"Zero no Kata… Hakuu!"

A final flash and the two stood still and opposite sides. Rokurou breathed, turning to the daemon as it sighed.

"Shigure..?"

"That name died seven years ago." He said, unusually distant. "Scatter like the cherry blossoms."

From blood-soaked teeth, the beast smiled, turning to the young man.

"Omigoto… Rokurou… kun."

The daemon collapsed, body sprawled out. Already the malevolence of the body fumed like a fire before disappearing entirely. As if it never existed.

Rokurou fell to a knee, gasping as if he nearly drowned. Velvet immediately caught up back up. "… What was that all about?"

"I think… I know…" He coughed, "The Bloodwings have a lot to explain about."

Amelia used Lailah as her crutch and Rokurou did the same with Velvet. Hobbling out of the destroyed shrine, the ronin yaksha looked at the statues in the back and turned away.

Just outside the manor, Bloodwing members were already waiting. Peter among them and behind him, in a wheelchair, was Tabatha Baskerville.

"Well done." She laughed amid a cough. "I assume that the daemon has been taken care of?"

"A few things first Tabatha." Rokurou immediately getting to the point. "You knew that was Mitsuko Rangetsu, my mother, didn't you?"

"That was your mom?" Amelia stared.

"I had an idea." Velvet held one hand at her hip. "Was this revenge?"

Tabatha chuckled. "Oh no, a plan snagged by the Rangetsu family, that failing was all on us." She smiled. "Mitsuko Rangetsu. She was a fiery one. Fighting us and a rival house with a newborn in one arm."

"I see why Shigu… Ichirou didn't kill her." He sighed, "Nobody should have to kill their parent's twice."

"But now, it's time to clean up." Peter nodded and set the others to work. "What shall we do with the house here, Rokurou? If you wish, we can burn it down if you like."

"No, keep it." He turned back to the house and rubbed his chin. "It may be a broken house, but it'd be wasteful going down in flames."

Tabatha closed her eyes. "Very well. And thank you, my boy. Your services are well appreciated."

As the elderly woman was carted away, Velvet turned back to the young ronin. "So… you were afraid, weren't you?"

"Huh?" Amelia turned to Rokurou then back to Lailah. The fire-branded malak smiled, "It's a family feud turned to familiarity, wasn't it?"

The legate cursed under her breath, passing a few gald over to her bonded friend.

Rokurou's face turned from puzzled, to passive then finally relaxed. The usual carefree smile returned to his face. Tired, but alive. "Saw through me that easily huh? Eleanor thought the same, a bit too easy to read. If you knew me."

"That can't be all, isn't it?"

"Velvet…" He turned to her and slumped his shoulders. "I'd disappear for months on end, finding and fighting new people. Every time, I'd come back with scratches, bruises, and cuts. Some worse than others. Even broken my arm and leg over it! And every time, she'd help me back up. The same face and the same worry.

"Sometimes she doesn't even hear back reports about me."

"But she stayed with you. Isn't that enough?"

"I… I didn't think so. I don't think so." He scratched his head. "Rangetsu blood is known for killing. I'm a warrior. And she's… she's a protector. A symbol of hope. What… exactly can I do?"

"Stay with her."

"Velvet, it's never that simple." Rokurou leaned himself back. "She's the one that made the first move on me."

Velvet's eyes widened. "What exactly did she do?"

"Lay on the bed, striped to barely anything. I saw it in her eyes. She dared me to do something and I… backed out."

"This is the first time I think I've ever seen you run away from something."

"Rangetsu men aren't exactly the best with dealing with emotions." He paused. "I'm not proud of the things I did that hurt her, directly or indirectly. Maybe I'm just trying to figure out what I'm feeling."

"You had no problem asking Phi."

"That's lust; it's completely different." Rokurou took a seat, closing his eyes. "Hard to believe. All this time, watching mom scolded us. Pushing us to the edge. It was the only thing we ever knew. Was it love? Making sure that we'd have the skills to survive in the world? Or just to survive in the shitty assassin life we're in?"

He shrugged.

"That was the first time I think she's ever praised me. Or any of my brother's...

Guess I'll never know."

The only thing I know for real... is the path I had, have, and will walk.

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