Summary: During a quiet moment in Heian-Kyo, a Golden warrior asks a Chaldean Master for her definition of a hero. It's two simple conversations that reveal so much more than what he could've ever imagined from what should've been a regular young woman.

Note: Heian-kyo's been on my mind ever since I finished in the span of a week, and since summoning the original Kintoki back in Spring 2022, I've been thinking about him.

So, why not dedicate an entire chapter to him? He, Danzo, and Raikou all made up the best parts of LB 5.5 for me. :)

The theme for this aptly "golden" chapter is Tracy Bonham's rendition of Up To The Roof with the Blue Man Group. This specific choice was a song I grew up with, and I'm glad to have rediscovered it in time to write this. For a specific battle theme? Go on to the song called First Riders by Yoshimasa Masukura, originally the insert song for Digimon Ghost Game.

Otherwise? Please enjoy!

Day 51: Golden Ties

"Lady Vy?"

Kintoki glanced up from his bowl of miso soup at the sound of Lady Kaoruko's voice, blinking as the writer addressed the brunette not-Caster girl sitting across from him. Her short skirt and weird long white socks (they definitely weren't tabi socks) were odd enough to him, and it seemed it wasn't lost on Lady Kaoruko either, since her nose wrinkled at the sight while Vy blinked obliviously. "Mm?" is the response she gives past a mouthful of white rice, keeping her lips tightly closed as she slowly chewed her food. Her gaze past her weird spectacles darted between Lady Kaoruko and himself, clearly confused as she tilted her head.

"Forgive me for the blunt remark I am about to make, but I cannot help but be curious—" Lady Kaoruko raised a delicate hand past her many kimono robes to point a finger at the skirt and socks Vy was wearing, hiding a frown with a corner of her sleeve. "What kind of fashion is that form of dress from? Does it originate from outside Japan, perhaps?"

Whoa, Lady Kaoruko, Kintoki thought to himself in awe. Way to get to the point.

Unknowing of Kintoki's thoughts, Vy swallowed her mouthful, blinking rapidly as pink flushed her cheeks. "Um…" Her weird lenses slid down her nose as she gulped. "This is…"

"It's to help her run better! Coming from outside Japan with some Japanese influences in mind!" Musashi put in suddenly, making all attention go to her as she slurped at a udon noodle. "No offense intended to your own garments, Lady Kaoruko, but when we were choosing clothes for Vy here, we decided to free up her legs to allow her better range of movement!" Without skipping a beat, Musashi proceeded to use her chopsticks to toss a small piece of fried tofu into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "Her own robes aren't as plentiful as yours, Lady Kaoruko, but it's mainly to help with combat since she doesn't serve the Emperor like you! The shorter length of the robes is also to help with keeping her agility, because with all the oni around, noble beauty was the last thing on our minds." Musashi proceeded to wiggle the fingers on one hand in a breeze-y like motion for extra emphasis. "Before you ask anymore, the long socks are there to keep her warm on a cold night." The swordswoman then went on to swallow her mouthful with a visible gulp, grinning as she finished with, "Otherwise, it's all there to make her look more cute!"

"Shiiiiiiiiiii-chan…" Vy mumbled, ducking her face towards her ricebowl. "No, I'm not cute…"

"Yes, you are cute~!" Musashi cooed, reaching over with her free hand to poke Vy's cheek. "You very much are, little riceball! You're our cute little riceball!"

Vy was starting to resemble a sakura flower in terms of color. "No… Robin, help…"

"You're cute, little sparrow," Robin put in flatly over his soup, crossing his legs through his hakama to sit comfortably on the tatami mats as he ate his meal. "Don't deny it."

An embarrassed Muu went on to be muffled by Vy's next mouthful of bok choy, making the bowman smile. Not even Danzo nearby was immune to the softening atmosphere, as she directed a fond look in Vy's direction while Lady Kaoruko watched with her own staff of servants. The servants themselves seemed to be touched by the growing atmosphere as they proceeded to scurry about on the tatami mats, muttering something about, "Need to bring more food for the guests," just as Lady Kaoruko smiled herself.

"Well," Lady Kaoruko said after a moment, coughing into her sleeve, "considering the show you and Lord Kintoki gave us earlier while I was in my carriage, Lady Vy, I will withdraw any previous apprehension I had towards your attire. You have certainly been trained well to fight the oni and other monsters with just the staff you wielded. It is no wonder your clothes are so odd if it allows you to survive."

To Kintoki's surprise, Vy directed a sideways glance in his direction as she opened her mouth. "Yeah," she breathed softly, pink flush fading for a mysterious deep look in her brown eyes. It nearly had Kintoki think, Brother Tsuna, if not for knowing better. "I had a lot of help to get there."

It didn't stop Kintoki from wondering if she was directing that phrase towards him or another him he didn't know about.

In the middle of the night, Kintoki couldn't help himself. "Hey, Vy? You awake?"

The petite Chaldean Master merely made a sleepy noise, slowly turning over in her bedding to look up at him through half-lidded eyes, and Kintoki gave her a sheepish smile in response. Whoops. Guess she was asleep until he said something. Didn't help that he could already sense the suspicious glare of a nearby green bowman, and he shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you up. I just couldn't fall asleep and wanted to talk to you about something."

"About… about what?" Vy raised one hand to rub at the corners of her eyes, getting some dust out of them as she slowly sat up from her blankets, exposing tangled brown hair and a little bit of drool hanging from her bottom lip. "The Imperial Holy Grail War…?" Her other hand proceeded to pat around her pillow, absently searching for something, and it took Kintoki a second too long to realize she was looking for her weird spectacles. Didn't help that her nose was wrinkling as she squinted at him. Had Robin or Musashi taken her glasses for the night for safekeeping? "Chaldea? What'dya need… to know…?"

Aw, Kintoki thought for a second. No wonder those two were calling her cute. That face would make even Boss Raikou start to blush. Outwardly, he pointed to the corner of his mouth to hide a chuckle. "Before I say anything, you got some drool there, Vy."

"…Ah shit," she said suddenly, blinking into wakefulness as she used her hand to wipe away the drool in question, giving up on finding her spectacles for the time being. "That's embarrassing."

"Nothing wrong with drool, that just means you were sleeping well after a long day," Kintoki assured her, feeling himself exhale at the sensation of the nearby glare starting to die down with his words. "Still, think I could shoot this question by you?"

"You're… already asking," Vy pointed out, slowly brushing her hands through her hair as she scooted out of her bedding to sit next to him, legs half bent past her torso. "And I'm okay with it, 'Toki."

Kintoki couldn't help but chuckle. "Fair enough." Toki, huh? Outwardly, he reached over to pat her head, mussing up her hair. "What motivates you to fight so hard anyways, little miss? Is there someone you want to impress back home?"

Vy made a tiny Wah noise in response to the hair ruffling, looking up at him through blurry eyes as her nose wrinkled. "What brought this on, 'Toki? Did something happen?"

"Nah, nothing that complicated," he said smoothly, keeping his hand on her head as she blinked owlishly at him. "Was just feelin' curious after thinkin' over the show we gave Lady Kaoruko earlier, that's all. Your movements really showed off the training the others said you did, but there's somethin' in your eyes that's…" Kintoki splayed his other hand open in Vy's direction for extra emphasis. "What was it that you said? 'Golden'?"

Vy blinked at him. "…Yes, I did say that, but my eyes aren't gold, 'Toki," she deadpanned. "They're brown."

"Yeah, I'm not book-smart, but at least I can see that!" he retorted, giving her a teasing frown as she continued to meet his gaze. "But your eyes are golden inside, Vy!"

That remark had Vy lurching back, and to Kintoki's surprise, the light in her eyes faded a little in the single second it took for her to reorient herself. "…Golden, huh?" The smile that formed on her lips looked all but genuine as a tiny chuckle left her throat. "First time I've heard someone say that about my eyes. Especially after everything I've seen." She closed her eyes to exhale her next breath in a sigh, an undercurrent of suffering coating the sound as her shoulders hunched in on themselves. "I guess that's one way to put it."

For some reason, something in Kintoki's heart ached at hearing that. "…I guess my reasonin' about you when I first met you and Danzo was more accurate than I thought, little miss?"

Without a word, Vy nodded, lurching back so that his palm wasn't touching her head anymore. What have you seen to make you look more like a scarred warrior than a lass, Vy? Kintoki wanted to ask, but he knew he couldn't. Not with the other Servants in the vicinity. Not with the looming danger that could still happen in Kyo.

"Still, to answer your previous question, Kintoki…" Vy opened her eyes to look up at him with a tilt of her head, something resolute but oh so tired shining in those brown irises as she said with no hesitation whatsoever, "I'm fighting to take back my home."

"Your…" Kintoki found himself tongue-tied at how strong she looked, even without her spectacles on. "Your home?"

"Mash mentioned it over the communications line earlier, didn't she? About the Bleached World Phenomenon." The light in those brown irises seemed so resigned but strong all at once as the smile on Vy's face crumbled somewhat at the edges. "My family was stuck right in the middle of it. I doubt they're alive right now."

Kintoki froze.

"It was so sudden too." Vy let out a laugh, but it sounded wrong with the way her eyes glazed over with what Kintoki knew were unshed tears. It sounded hollow — nothing like the embarrassed, bright red girl Kintoki glimpsed in the dining hall when they were all sharing dinner under Lady Kaoruko's careful watch. "One moment, I was conversing with them, about to go home, and then I'm running for my life as the fake God that started this mess wiped them out along with the rest of the world I come from. Along with the future that this place is supposed to lead to." Despite meeting his eyes, her gaze seemed to be focused elsewhere, as if squinting into the darkness beyond him as she shook her head, cutting off the eye contact without hesitation a moment later. "They weren't supposed to die. Not like… not like that." Vy proceeded to make a splayed-out hand of her own, wiggling her fingers weakly in the air. "Poof, just like they never existed."

"So…"

Vy lowered her hand to clench at the hem of her skirt, giving him a vulnerable look past her hair. "What I'm doing is nothing 'golden' like protecting the people around me. All I'm doing is trying to set the world right after so many bastards did it wrong, even if my own hands are bloodied to no tomorrow." With a little sigh, Vy ducked her head, raising a finger to gently play with a stray strand of hair. "Because when choosing between a world that could live in another time and the world that I know, I've had to choose the world I grew up in. So many times over, over and over and over, even when it hurts. Because it's for the memories I have in that original world, even if they're starting to fade from all that I've seen. Because it's for Mash and everyone back at Chaldea, who are waiting for me to come home. Because it's for my family who raised me and loved me."

Even if they all might not ever forgive me for becoming a killer. I have to do this. For them.

Kintoki didn't know if he was supposed to hear that last thought, more so when Vy's lips didn't even move to verbalize it, but he felt his arms extend themselves before he realized it nonetheless.

Vy's shoulders were so small against his palms as he held them between his fingers, her figure easily dwarfed by his once her head gently bumped his exposed collarbone past his armor. Despite taking as much care as he could in pulling her into him, she still froze, the glazed look in her eyes dissipating for surprise. "…Kintoki?" she whispered.

"I'm not that good with women who are about to cry," Kintoki flubbed, keeping his gaze pointed to the moon looming over his shoulder as Vy's weight slumped against him. "But that doesn't mean Boss Raikou didn't teach me what to do when a lady can't help it. So lemme hold you for a while, little miss. Another person's warmth is the best thing in these kinda situations." Squeezing Vy felt like hugging one of the children in Kyo who had a bad day, and as more time passed, the more Kintoki's point was given with how Vy's shoulders were starting to shake under his grip. "'M sorry for saying your eyes were 'golden,' Vy."

"You… you didn't know," Vy whimpers, and Kintoki doesn't miss how the glares pointed into his back start to die down in time with the wetness growing to a steady trickle down his skin. "It's not your fault, 'Toki."

"Even so, just lemme apologize and hug you, Vy." He pats her back as gently as he can, ignoring the growing wetness on his chest as Vy leaned into him, her hands falling limp into the lap of her skirt. "You've been through a lot, and I'm sorry for glorifyin' it when you don't need that kinda shit right now."

You didn't ask to be a warrior like I did. I'm sorry.

All he hears is a sniffle and what sounds like a muffled apology in return before Vy hugs him back, and even with the muscle he can feel through her arms, her grip is so, so miniscule compared to his. With the wrappings around her palms factored in too.

It honestly makes Kintoki wonder how much Vy has had to hold onto until she met him. He's not sure if he's going to like the answer.

Kintoki finds he doesn't have the heart to wake Vy up the next morning. If anything, when checking on her futon, he can see Robin had snuck in somehow, taking her into his arms overnight so that she could derive some comfort from his presence. Musashi seemed to get the same idea too, because while Vy was cradled in Robin's embrace, she occupied Vy's back while lying on her side, facing the other way while keeping a hand on the pommel of one of her sheathed katanas, barely snoring all the while. Add in a nearby Danzo sitting at the base of the nearest pillar, whose little beeps and bops behind her katakuri limbs signify some kind of usage overnight so that she could protect the one human girl in the center of the room, and it's quite a group they make up.

Almost like a family, Kintoki thinks. Like me and Boss Raikou.

It doesn't help that he can see the remnants of tears in the corners of Vy's eyes as Robin holds her close.

Still, his staring at them can't last forever, because without even opening one eye, Robin then says in the groggiest, driest tone ever, "How long are you going to keep looking?"

WHAT THE—

It takes all of his self-control to not yell out loud and wake up the other residents in Lady Kaoruko's house, but he lurches back anyway as Robin shifts in place, hugging Vy closer. And was that… Danzo laughing in the background?! "It's rude to stare," the green Archer mutters, opening his eye to give Kintoki a look. "But…" In a quieter voice, what comes out next is a heartfelt, "thanks."

"…Buh?" Kintoki says intelligently. "Thanks?"

Vy makes a sleepy noise through it all, causing Musashi to stir and turn over on her side to hug the girl as Robin looked down at his lady to smile. "For letting her cry," Robin elaborates, exhaling quietly before pressing a soft kiss to the top of Vy's head. "For being that chivalrous warrior she needed. She's been needing that kind of thing for a long time now."

Like you're not already one for her? Kintoki thought but kept to himself, smiling instead. That wasn't his business, and he definitely wasn't going to ask about the matching rings on their intertwined hands. Nope. "No problem."

Lady Kaoruko could probably delay their breakfast for another half-hour or so.

Do not throw away your dreams, that steel machine calling himself "Charles Babbage" had said in the midst of golden dust that would replace his making a corpse. None of you need to throw anything at all away. I am a Heroic Spirit recorded by humanity after my dreams were crushed. Which is exactly why I implore you now not to forget your own dreams, young ones. Never lose hope.

Kintoki could still vividly remember Vy freezing in that cave after Babbage said those words, looking up at the fading steel behemoth in shocked awe as his fading red eye flickered between her and Kintoki both in some kind of message. Some kind of want, desire to say more but being limited by his collapsing Spirit Core.

It will not always be easy. At times, it will be sheer agony. You may pause. You may rest. One last, long plume of steam exuded off of Babbage's body then, his red eye glowing bright for one more hurrah. But you must never, ever abandon your dreams! As long as you hold onto your dreams, you may always pick yourself up and keep moving. Encase your dreams in steel armor forged from your own ideals. Do that, and nothing will stop you.

It didn't stop Lady Kaoruko from sobbing once Babbage disappeared, but the whole ordeal left something in Kintoki's chest nonetheless.

Even after dozing on it, eating on it, and looking up at the sky about it, the unease in his chest hadn't ebbed away.

What is my dream?

It takes him a moment too long to realize Vy's tugging at his hand, a questioning Muu noise echoing in her throat all the while. Did she… did she hear what he was thinking? And when did she get behind him?

"Wh-What's the matter, Boss?" he flubs instead, turning away out of instinct as heat steadily creeped up the back of his neck. Too close, too close. "Shouldn't you be gettin' ready to head out?"

"I was," she murmurs, tugging at his hand again to pat his forearm. Kintoki could tell just from looking into her eyes that she meant it out of sympathy. It didn't take her long to let go of his arm to give him more personal space, though, allowing him to exhale quietly in relief. "But you seemed like you were lost in thought and I got worried, 'Toki. Is everything okay?"

"…Yeah," he said, trying his best attempt at another smile. Because what was the point in worrying Vy when she had enough on her plate, thinking about that Caster of Limbo and whatever wrongdoings he had done before? "Just thinkin' about things is all, little miss."

Vy pursued her lips, a strand of hair falling onto her cheek past her half-bun as she tilted her head at him. "Thinking can be a dangerous thing if you do it too often in the negative direction, 'Toki," she said in the same soft wisp of a tone, conveying without more words that she was unconvinced. "I know from personal experience myself."

"You… you would, huh?" And why wouldn't she? For a young woman-turned-warrior, Kintoki knew it wasn't a lie. Even in her flimsy pink dress that was at best a joke of a kimono, Vy's stare was resolute through her glasses. It doesn't stop his own internal shock at his mouth moving without his consent. "Then can I borrow your ear, Boss? Needa just vent something."

"Of course!" Vy reassured him, a tiny yet happy smile tugging at her lips to match the cheery response as the tense lines between her brows faded. "What's up, 'Toki?"

"…'What's up' is definitely one weird way to start things," he pointed out wryly, a wry chuckle echoing in his throat as he pretended to not notice the questioning stares of Musashi, Robin, and Danzo directed at him. "But how did you figure out what you wanted to do, Boss?"

Vy lurched back, eyes widening. "What… what I wanted to do in life, you mean? Is that what you're getting at, 'Toki?"

"Yeah." And it felt like such a pathetic thing to say, to admit for a Genji warrior from Boss Raikou's Four Heavenly Kings, but Kintoki still felt the insecurity egging at him anyways. "Babbage was… he was 'golden' all the way to his own ends. And you—" Even looking into Vy's eyes proves the girl's seen so much more than any other little miss, it's to the point where he can't deny there's something "golden" about her, despite his knowing how much she hates that descriptor for herself. "You're still movin' forward even when it hurts. So… how? How did you find what motivated you?" His voice cracks at the last part, and in his embarrassment, all that leaves his mouth is an additionally weaker, "How do you do it, Boss?"

Even after living in the city for so long, I don't fully get it. Things were a lot simpler back on the mountain. Not here in Kyo, with the Minister of the Left and all the political shit. How did you get it, Vy?

Vy stared up at him in bewilderment. "That's…" A disbelieving giggle left her throat as surprised pink colored her cheeks. Her hand came up to her mouth to partially cover up her smile as she met his gaze. "Forgive me for laughing, it's just… that's the first time someone's asked me that in a long time outside of Big Robin, Shii-chan, and everyone else back in Chaldea." Her smile was weak at the edges, vulnerable enough to expose the tired little girl Kintoki remembered from the first night he met her, but the words that came out of her mouth were all the more resolute as she said, "To answer your question, I just think about the people around me. Just like how I've always been since I've started this journey."

"…Huh?"

"It was a small group at first. Mom, Dad, my big brother, all my cousins and relatives, the friends I grew up with through school. That's what I started with, because they were the first ones that got hurt when my world was taken away," Vy elaborated, lacing her fingers together behind her back as she swayed in place, turning on the heel of her shoes to look up at the blue sky past their guest room. "And as I kept fighting, I kept meeting more people I wanted to be there for. Mash, Dr. Roman," Kintoki did not mistake Vy wincing at saying the name, "Da Vinci, Holmes, Big Robin, Shii-chan, Danzo, everyone back at Chaldea — even you, Lady Nagiko, Lady Kaoruko, and the townspeople we talked to when finding information on Ashiya Douman." Without meeting his gaze, Kintoki still knew Vy was smiling as she kept her gaze pointed in the sun's general direction. "I want to help them, I want to be better for them, it's the least I can do — those kinds of thoughts helped me with every decision I've had to make, from the beginning all the way to where we are now." Another giggle leaves Vy's lips, more sheepish this time. "And well, that hasn't changed, even after a little over three years. All it took was spending time with them and loving them."

"Then—"

Kintoki finds himself awestruck once Vy turns her head to meet his gaze, teeth shining past her lips as she smiles at him. "Is it so wrong to just want to do your best if it means the people around you can live in peace?" A giggle leaves her lips as she swayed back and forth on her heels. "Besides, 'Toki. For the first time in a long time, in this Kyo where I got to meet you, Lady Nagiko, and Lady Kaoruko, I got to throw myself at a single goal without worrying about anything else. So doing my best is the least I can do now to return the sentiment!"

Even if it means you might not ever be saved? Even if it means you'll sacrifice yourself?

Kintoki opens his mouth and finds that the words don't come out. They never do. All he does instead is nod, stepping back once Musashi and Robin abruptly choose the moment to come into the scene to hug the girl to their chests, Musashi in particular starting to babble something amidst touched tears (maybe something along the lines of a loud "I love you toooooo"?).

I just… I just witnessed a golden star, didn't I, Boss Raikou, Brother Tsuna?

No one answers him. Vy ends up being too busy to even try, instead attempting to comfort the tearing-up Musashi as Robin sighs fondly over her head.

With the sky red and the moon the shade of dark blood, Kintoki stares up at the mockery of a Tree of Emptiness with a face. "…That's what you all have been fighting up until now?"

"Yep," Robin replies with no hesitation, the crossbow on his left arm glowing in time with the growing scowl on his face. "Ugly thing, isn't it?" The tree standing in the horizon pulsed with enough energy to make even Kintoki sick despite all of his training, and judging by the terse furrowing of Robin's brows, it's not lost on him either. "Calling it a 'tree' is like insulting all other trees, but worse."

Kintoki corrects his jaw with a toss of his head, just to make sure it wouldn't fall off the hinges of his chin. "I already knew this Limbo guy was bad news, but this is just ridiculous!"

"Believe us, Kintoki," Musashi said dully, glaring at the thing with the most contempt he had ever seen from her, "it's his motto. Being extravagantly ugly."

Robin let out a harsh laugh. "Maybe add in sadistically cruel and we're good there, Saber."

"Both are true, though, Archer! Don't deny me that!"

"I wasn't going to!"

"Lady Musashi, Lord Robin," Danzo interjects firmly, placing mechanical hands on their shoulders, "now is not the time for banter. We have to confront our enemy before he assimilates Ibuki-Douji into his plan!"

"I believe, Lady Danzo," Raikou put in politely, "that with our Kyo like this, it is the most optimal time for banter." Her hands still sat on the pommels of her own swords, glare pointed firmly at the obstacle standing before them all. "Isn't that right, Tsuna? Kintoki?"

Kintoki doesn't need to meet Brother Tsuna's eyes when he knows his answer. Their answer.

The coalition of Genji warriors and oni behind them roared together.

That so-called Rakshasa King — the cursed Caster of Limbo — Ashiya Douman, looked down at Kintoki like he was a germ at the top of his nose. "Then tell me, Sakata Kintoki!" he crowed from his place assimilated into the Tree of Emptiness, deadly smirk on his face. "WHAT IS YOUR REASON FOR FIGHTING?!"

Kintoki didn't even need to meet Vy's eyes. All he felt was her tiny hand pushing at the back of his shoulder through his armor and the answer came out in the most natural bellow he ever let out in his life. "BECAUSE I CARE!"

"…What?" For the first time since meeting the demon bastard, Douman paused, his glare fading for sheer shock. "What did you say?"

"Ya heard me right. I care." Vy's hand patted his shoulder approvingly, and Kintoki grinned, shouldering his axe. "And not just for this city. I care about every living person in this world. And that helped me realize why I fight. Because I care!"

Just like another golden star I know.

"I care about the kids lookin' forward to playin' tomorrow! I care about the moms cookin' hard to feed 'em, and the dads workin'' hard to provide for 'em! And not just them." He inhaled and exhaled. "I care about moms who work, dads who cook, and old folks who just wanna play, and every other sort of person out there!" Kintoki could taste iron in the back of his throat as he grit his teeth, glaring up at the demon facing him from that mockery of a tree. "You have no idea how precious people are…" Like how me and Boss Vy do… "And that's why I'm gonna beat your ass!"

To give this golden star some peace in her dreams!

"Well spoken!" Musashi cried out, readying her swords in time with Robin aiming his Yew Bow. Danzo readied a shuriken just as she growled, "We're all gonna beat your ass, Douman!"

"THEN TRY IT, CHALDEA! YOU FOOLS OF THE GENJI!" The Tree of Emptiness roared and Kintoki could feel the ground beneath him shake. Red armor was all he saw in the corner of his vision before Douman was screaming. "FACE ME AND DIE FOR ALL I CARE!"

With the large red armor starting to come up underneath his sandals, Kintoki grinned in time with Vy's Command Seals glowing red.

"I am Sakata Kintoki, one of Minamoto-no-Raikou's Four Heavenly Kings!"

"And I'm Vy Duong, the last Master of Chaldea and daughter to Hiep and Nga Duong! To you, the bastard Ashiya Douman—"

"WITH OUR BRAVE HEARTS, LET'S HAVE A FAIR FIGHT!"

Once the armor of the Minamoto clan emerged from the earth of Kyo, Kintoki grabbed Vy's hand to pull her up with him. To have a "golden" finish, he had to have an equally "golden" star at his side, even if she wasn't his Caster in the end, right?

Douman wouldn't stand a chance. Kintoki knew it by heart, even before Ibuki-Douji gave him her Kusanagi sword.

The combined attacks of Musashi, Robin, and Danzo at the end confirmed it too.