Notes:

By the way, I don't plan to end the story soon at all, but I plan to write different endings to fulfill everyone's desires.

Every reader can tell me how they want the story to end, and I fulfill every single reader's desire.

I will write an ending that is my own desire for how the story ends.

But every single reader's wish or desire for how they want the story to end will get my excellent effort and attention.

I will write each ending in a way that I make sure that everyone is pleased.

Now, you know that you can tell me anything about how you want the story to end.

No ending will be shallow. I will put my very effort and attention on each ending to make sure that it is not shallow.

I also will put very much effort and attention to make sure that no reader feels sad when they read another ending that is not what they wanted.

Chapter Text

Chizuru was so exhausted before her sword fight with Kazama that when she woke up, she found herself in a room. 'Did Kazama bring her here?' She thought to herself and wondered how much she had slept. A somber feeling washed all over her as she recalled everything and how her attempt to escape failed, and she was imprisoned again.

If there used to be a tiny chance that she would accept this life with Kazama, then now, there is no chance anymore. After her severe conflict with him and how he took her by force again, now, she has deeper hate for him, and there is no way that she can endure touching him or let him touch her. If he touches her once more, then she'll lose her sanity. That's how she was feeling and thinking now.

By looking around her environment, she could realize that it was early morning. The early morning light was that of a very cold winter morning, but the room was perfectly warm. It was so warm that Chizuru didn't need a blanket at all, especially that she was still with all those clothes that she had on when she was on her trek in the forest, yet she had one light blanket on top of her. There were light noises from outside, light noises of people walking here and there, and probably doing some chores to start their day and some noises of people speaking in a calm and low voice tone. There was the sound of a cat meowing outside. It was the sound of a cat that was waiting for the morning food. It seemed like some people there had a habit of feeding it.

It all meant that it was the early morning. Her eyes were burning. She still needed more sleep.

She recalled Kazama's words and how he suggested that she remove her womb for once and all so he would allow her to leave. Remove my womb? So I'll never ever have a child? She asked herself. This brought the most painful memory to her, the memory that was probably more painful than watching Hajime getting killed by Kazama. It was the memory of her child that she lost before it even got a chance to live. After losing her child, her main goal in life was to have another child, not to forget the one that she lost but to ease the pain. Ever since she lost her child, not a single day passed without thinking of it. It was a pain that had no cure. There were days that she wished if she could just vanish to be free of the agony. Maybe I should have never been with Hajime in the first place. I both lost a child and lost him, and now I'm probably about to lose the mere dream of having another child. She thought to herself.

At this moment, the imagination of losing the chance to have another child forever was more agonizing than the memory of her child that died. She had to either choose not to ever have any child in her whole life or accept having a child with Kazama but at the same time accept that she'll probably never be able to raise her own child herself or even see it grow up because they fear her influence on it. No matter what Kazama has said about her living peacefully with her child in his clan, she will never trust his words.

I would rather die. She thought to herself. She was not going to choose any of these options. She was going to either escape this life or die while she was trying.

With these thoughts, all she wanted now was a more comfortable time to calm down. She gazed around at her bedroom. The bag of her stuff and clothes as well as her sword and weapons was near her in the room. So once again, Kazama didn't bother to keep her swords away from her? She attempted to hurt him hours ago, so he must know that she has the gut to do that. Maybe he enjoys fighting her? Maybe he wants to see her attempt to kill him so he defeats her once again?

She got her comfortable clothes out from the bag, took off all her heavy clothes, and changed into more comfortable clothes. She was not willing to attempt anything at the moment. All she wanted was to rest and sleep. She thought about Kazama again. If he had been refraining from killing her until now, it was because he needed her womb. But now that he was suggesting that she remove her womb, then he could kill her if killing women was his thing. At least, that's what Chizuru thought. As she put her head on the pillow, she wondered what everyone thought when they saw him bring her unconscious. Maybe they felt that something was wrong, but none dared to react. Was there anyone who could save her if she told everyone that Kazama was not her husband, and instead, he was someone who took her by force from her husband?

Kazama, on the other hand, was staying in a separate room because he believed that Chizuru would not want to see him at all. He decided that their trek to the Kazama clan would be slower because he couldn't take Chizuru with her current mindset to the clan, and instead, he'll give her more time to accept her fate or make her decisions.

He regretted getting intimate with her in the carriage. Now that he thinks of it well, it was a big mistake. Of course, she would run away. When he did what he did to her, he thought that she was going to tend to accept him more and didn't expect her to escape. For him, he was breaking the boundaries between them. But now that he learned more about her personality then he regretted his mistake. Now, he supposed that maybe he should have kept her in a separate room from himself from the first night.

Undoubtedly, he was able to completely force himself on her and hold the wedding sooner, but it was just not a part of his personality to force himself on a woman. After his conflict with her and knocking her unconscious, the mere thought of touching her again was not a part of his mindset. Just like how some people had the gut to hurt anyone but didn't have the capability to hurt a child, Kazama, too, didn't have the mental ability to force himself on a woman despite the fact that he had the ability to take her away by force and imprison her.

His thoughts for her were becoming more complicated. He was not sure about what to do with Chizuru.

…..

Without much in his mind, Kazama went out to the yard around the inn and sat on the bench with his clout around himself. The weather was that of winter's bones, and there were only two almost chubby cats sitting in the yard somewhere next to a wall, and no other animal was seen there. One of them, which was black and white with a round face, had its feet hidden beneath its body as it looked like a ball of fur in the cold. At least no human was going to kill it during the conflicts. Kazama thought as he stared at it and sipped on his tea.

Was Chizuru really going to have her womb removed? He wondered. He recalled when she told him that she once had a miscarriage. He could not help but imagine a barren Chizuru with no womb sitting in a dark and silent house alone, with no husband and no hope for another child. She thinks of her dead child everyday, she thinks of how she lost the chance to have another child forever, she thinks of how she is alone and she thinks on what she has done that she deserved this tragic life. Like an innocent child who lost his family and now sits in a corner of an orphanage alone. The child doesn't speak about his parents anymore because he knows they will never return. The child used to cry, but now he is numb because crying didn't bring his family back. Like that oppressed child, Chizuru is sitting alone, and she doesn't speak much. She only watches time pass as she waits for her due date to join her child in the afterlife. She has stopped mourning. She doesn't complain about her life anymore because none can help her get her life back. She is very young but she is as silent as an old woman. Chizuru doesn't wonder if she has done something to deserve such a fate because she is convinced that she was just born to live in tragedy. The sight of Chizuru is somber.

She didn't choose to live with humans all the years. It's the Oni's fault that they didn't take her back earlier. His clan should have taken her back years ago. She is not the one to blame in this whole troublesome story. It's his clan's fault that they left her to fall in love with a human and marry him. She was not to be blamed for loving a human. Was she the one to blame for that? Every woman wants a man, and Oni didn't bring Chizuru back before human males started approaching her.

Now Chizuru will probably have her womb removed for a mistake that was not her fault.

His thoughts for Chizuru were becoming more complicated. He was not sure about what to do with her.

….

When Chizuru woke up hours later, she found Kazama in her room, sitting close to her.

He was wearing more comfortable clothes. One of his legs was bent, and he had his sword, which was sheathed, resting on his shoulder, and his arm was resting on his knee. He was looking at her as he noticed she was waking up. It seemed as if he had been there for a while.

"Why are you here?" Chizuru asked him as she sat up. She sat against the wall, bent her knees, and kept the blanket on her lower limbs. As she was readying herself to hear his answer, she noticed that there was a fat cat in the room. Did the cat sneak to the room, or is it possible that Kazama brought it here? She asked herself. She also noticed the window, which was in front of them, was open, but it was not disturbingly cold due to the heating in the room. However, the cold wind was still breezing in the room.

"I brought something for you." He replied to her in his calm voice. His voice was as if he had woken up shortly before she woke up or as if he was getting ready to speak about his day before going to bed.

He picked up a small package that was next to him, which Chizuru didn't notice moments ago and offered it to her.

Chizuru hesitated to stretch her hand and take the package as she felt that it was maybe another gift from him as an attempt to make her forget their conflict, but eventually, she took it with little interest.

As she was opening it, Kazama stared at her face with extra concentration to catch any hint in her expression as an attempt to study her.

Chizuru opened it, and it was an elegant blossom hairpin that was as worthy as jewelry with a very small kanzashi that looked like the accessories of a child. The small kanzashi got most of her attention.

"What is this for?" She asked as she looked up at him. He searched her face for every detail and hint of any emotion and thought.

"Nothing particular. " He replied without any change in his expression. It was obvious to Chizuru, though, that he was disappointed by her reaction. He averted his gaze from her to the window in front of them.

"If you think I'm evil, then you don't know many men. You don't know what men are capable of." He spoke with the same voice tone from moments ago without looking at her. Chizuru, who was still holding the kanzashis in her hands, put her hands around her knees and looked down as she listened to him.

"Tell me, have you ever known anything about the personal lives of the men who lived with you in the Shinsengumi headquarters?" He continued as he turned his head at her. She didn't look up to meet his gaze, but she could feel his eyes on her. Was he right? Were those people as he described them? She wondered.

"There is a reason why you didn't see anything from their private lives, dear." He added as he looked away from her and to the window view again.

He had other things to say to her on that matter, but he hesitated. Maybe if he spoke more, then she'll fall in extreme despair and off herself.

"I don't care about such stuff right now." She finally spoke.

"All I think of right now is my child that I lost." she continued. Kazama closed his eyes in what looked like exhaustion. He had empathy for those who lost a child. 'Losing a child is the ultimate tragedy. ' he thought to himself.

"There are days that I wish I could be unconscious the whole day only to be free of the memory. I don't cry because crying won't bring it back." she spoke with pain and aches in her voice. It was not as if she was about to cry, but it was as if she was extremely tired.

"Maybe it could have been alive now." she added in a more pained voice.

"It is now in heaven. You would not cry again if you could see a moment of its life in heaven." He said, looking at her. She was still looking down and he couldn't see her.

For a second, he thought of telling her that maybe her child would be alive now if he came to her earlier or if it was his child but he worried that if he says that then she'll commit suicide as she keeps thinking that her child could have had a chance to be alive now if only she made a difference decision.

"Stay with me and let me give you a child. " He said. She stayed silent in thoughts.

After moments, she finally replied.

"No, I don't love you." she finally said.

Kazama's eyes widened at her slightly as he noticed how stubborn she was in what she wanted. Didn't she just say that she didn't care about anything but the memory of her child?

"I admire how you insist on having everything the way you want." He said. If she had grown wealthy, then maybe she would be more stubborn than Sen now. He thought to himself.

"I decided to make our trek to reach my clan slower so you can take your time thinking. " He said as he got up and went to sit where the hot tea pot was.

"I'm not doing that for you, but I'm doing it mainly for myself. " He continued as he put tea in two cups. He held his own, but Chizuru didn't get up to take her cup. She was not willing to drink anything, and instead, she listened to him carefully.

He pointed her cup in her direction, but she didn't get up to join him. She only looked at him with her usual expression as if she was bored.

"What's the matter, Chizuru? You still can't forgive me?" He put her cup down again.

"I'm betraying my people by allowing you to remove your womb and leave, but I'm doing that merely because I'm not someone who enjoys forcing himself on you, it's just not my trait."

"However if we reach my clan with your current behavior, then things will probably be very different. " He continued.

"Humans trample the weak more than Oni do, but Oni still trample the weak." He said that in a lower voice and more serious tone.

He paused for moments before he spoke again.

"Maybe they will force me to treat you in a way that I loathe. "

He paused and only stared at her tiny body for a moment. He imagined himself with her in his mansion in the Kazama village. She was pinned beneath him on the hard wooden floor with her face and palms resting on the floor. Because she kept fighting him, her whole right shoulder bones were severely dislocated, and she was struggling to move her neck. He has knocked her shoulder so hard that he caused that damage to her upper limb and neck. She was not attempting to fight again because she was dealing with physical agony. Her Oni healing powers that were fixing her shoulder slowly were making the pain greater. However, she was not screaming because she didn't want anyone from those who made him behave with her to hear her screams of pain. She was not going to give them the luxury of hearing her agony. She was dwelling so much in her pain that if he penetrated her now, then the penetration would be a small threat to her.

Would he really do such a thing? He didn't like this specter.

Back to reality, he noticed the concerns in Chizuru's face. She was thinking of every word that he said to her.

"I don't want to treat you in that manner, so I ask you, Chizuru, to think well and make your decisions or change your behavior even if by faking a different behavior. " He finished.

"Remember, some people are absolute ruthlessness." He added a final note with emphasis.

Chizuru stared at the cat, which was still with them in the room as she thought of Kazama's words. She was not saying much because she was thinking of everything that Kazama said.

After moments of silence, Kazama finally spoke again.

"Looking at you, what disturbs me is that I feel that you are one of those women who don't survive in life. "His voice tone was softer, and Chizuru noticed a glimpse of sadness in his voice.

"You don't seem to fake any behavior like other people do." He added. He was right on that matter. Chizuru thought to herself. She always avoided faking any behavior and always preferred showing her true thoughts and feelings. If she had to fake any behavior while living with Hajime, then she wouldn't have loved him from the beginning. Since Kazama took her by force, she was unable to be anything but completely honest while speaking with Kazama despite how dangerous she found him. Even when it occurred to her that maybe she would always live with him, it still didn't occur to her that she would deal with him tactfully.

"Unfortunately, both Oni and humans don't appreciate your kind of people." He paused.

"They appreciate people who lie to them." He continued. Again, he was so right on what he said. Chizuru agreed with him. People appreciate a manipulative person.

"I am like you too, but I survived because I have status and power." He finished. This time, there was a glimpse of exhaustion in his voice.

It was not that Chizuru was completely unable to tell a lie, especially if it was to avoid making someone feel hurt or to avoid losing something she loves so dearly but Kazama was more referring to the kind of lies that have a glimpse of greed and manipulation in them. And Chizuru knew what he was referring to.

He was right on that matter as It was not even a part of her mindset to try to get close to Kazama so she could stab him while he was asleep or gain his trust. That was unlike her.

Kazama was also right when he said that people like her don't survive. Honest people don't survive in society. Only God knows what kind of liars are waiting for her in his clan.

"Maybe I'll be used one day because I don't devastate the weak." He added that after a pause.

Chizuru was not even going to ask him how he doesn't consider himself as someone who devastates the weak.

Suddenly, Kazama looked toward the door as he sensed someone approaching. It was most likely a man. Kazama knew who it was, though. Chizuru didn't pay much attention because she thought it was going to be one of the maids or workers or another visitor approaching a room that was close to theirs.

Then there was a knock on the door, and even the cat looked toward the door.

"Kazama San, Chizuru San. Are you there?" It was Amagiri's voice.

Chizuru felt surprised as she didn't expect him to visit them. Where were they? Were they at the same inn that she was staying in with Kazama before they escaped, or were they somewhere near to that place? She asked herself. Now that she thought of it, she wondered how much distance Kazama dragged her after he knocked her unconscious.

"Enter." Kazama replied, and Amagiri opened the shoji door.

He greeted both of them and sat somewhere where he had almost the same distance from both of them. He looked at Chizuru carefully to look for any signs of being harmed. She didn't make much eye contact with him, but she was a little relieved that he was there.

For a moment, it seemed like even the cat realized that Chizuru was the spot of attention in this room as Chizuru noticed that the cat was looking at her with its bored eyes.

"I'll go and rest in my own room. I haven't slept since yesterday. " Kazama said as he got up and left. He did that so Amagiri and Chizuru could speak.

"I was worried about you, Chizuru san." Amagiri spoke moments after Kazama closed the door behind himself.

"I'm fine." Chizuru replied.

"Did he hurt you?" He asked and looked in her eyes for answers in case she was going to lie.

"We had a sword fight."

"Did he strike you with the sword?" He asked with obvious concern in his low and calm voice tone.

"Not in a way that makes me bleed. He hit me with the handle of his sword to make me lose consciousness, and when I woke up, I found myself here." She explained.

Amagiri blinked in understanding. 'Just as I expected, he acted unwisely again. Chizuru will certainly escape again soon.' Amagiri thought to himself.

"Do you feel any pain now, Chizuru san?"

She thought a little about her body before replying. "No, not right now."

"Do you still have everything with yourself?" He asked her, and he meant the money that he gave her. He wanted to make sure that Kazama didn't take it from her. He believed that there was a high chance that Chizuru would escape again, so she would need the money.

"I think so." She said with a little doubt as she did not examine the bag to be sure if every detail of her stuff was still inside but when she changed her clothes, the bag didn't seem to be opened.

"I was worried about you. He arrived at night time. He didn't say anything to me when he realized that you were gone, but he was so irritated. He fought with the workers and maids because they didn't know the exact time that you left, so he couldn't know how far you would be. Of course, they didn't dare to tell him not to return to the inn, though. " Amagiri told her. She chuckled silently as she imagined the workers in the inn speaking about her and Kazama right now. They probably have made more than one scenario for her and Kazama by now.

"I was worried about you, so I followed you both to come here." He continued.

"I'll stay with you both." He added. 'So you feel safer.' he thought.

"Thank you." That was all Chizuru said. Deep inside, she was calculating things for her next escape attempt.

"I think he'll decide to take you to a different inn because he dislikes people speaking about his personal life." He told her.

'So he dislikes that? She asked herself. If that was right, then that was in paradoxical terms with his arrogant behavior.

Chizuru was not caring much about any of that except to get more details to plot her next escape attempt. Meeting Amagiri again made her rethink escaping more seriously.

Amagiri, on the other hand, knew that Chizuru was the type to escape again.

"What has he been speaking with you about?" He asked as he noticed the two big and small Kanzashi in her hands. Not that he didn't notice them at the beginning but it occurred to his mind now that they probably had something to do with Kazama and Chizuru earlier conversation as it was unlikely that Chizuru took them out of her bag suddenly and kept them in her hands.

'Should I tell him what Kazama said about removing my womb?' She asked herself. Amagiri helped her before so maybe he could help her again.

"Kazama said that if I remove my womb for once and all, then he'll let me leave." she explained.

Amagiri's expression changed to a slightly surprised one.

"Then this morning he came here and said that he is not evil and nothing of what he has done is cruel." She continued before Amagiri could have a chance to reply.

"Is that all he said?" Amagiri asked her.

"He said that his clan and Oni overall trample the weak like humans do, so they will probably oppress me or force him to treat me harshly." She explained.

"He is right about some Oni being wroth." Amagiri said with a rigid voice tone.

"The fact is that if you were not taken by Kazama, then you still could have been taken by another Oni who is cruel enough to make you call Kazama a friend. " He continued talking with the same tone. A shiver ran over Chizuru's spine as she realized what he was talking about. If she managed to escape from Kazama, then another Oni would still chase her.

"You should know what the other Oni did to your twin brother. They abused him since he was a two year old child, treated him like a servant, and they didn't feel guilty for that at all." his voice tone was softer now, and it had a glimpse of sadness as he was talking about the horrible experience of a child. Chizuru felt an ache in her heart at the mere imagination of a two year old child working as a servant and abused.

"Why did they abuse him?" Chizuru asked with a pained expression.

"It's all because he was not you and therefore not a female which disappointed them. When they kidnapped him, they thought he was you." He answered her.

"I don't understand Amagiri san. Why was there no woman to take care of him as her own child?"

Amagiri sighed silently and closed his eyes momentarily before replying to her.

"Chizuru chan, you are kind-hearted, and you think others are like you too. None would have dared approaching Kaoru with kindness. None even dared, bringing him leftover food from the ceremonies. "

"However, I'm not sure if other Oni can really force him into treating you in a certain way. I know that they can keep causing sedition between the two of you, though." Chizuru only listened to Amagiri and didn't say much. She hated how what was awaiting her was completely unknown. She hated this feeling of facing the unknown.

"Again keep in mind that some Oni are cruel and brutal. So maybe he's right." He added with emphasis.

"This is tiresome." She said in a low voice, mostly to herself.

"I'll be in my own room, which is close to yours. " He said as he got up. He assumed that Chizuru probably needed some alone time to find comfort or rest as her face still looked like she was lacking energy.

As she watched him close the shoji door behind himself, Chizuru was resolute that she would escape once it's nighttime tonight.

She went to her bag and checked everything. All the money that Amagiri gave her was there as well as everything else. She was going to bathe now and rest well before escaping again.

After plotting everything in her head, Chizuru went out of her room to bathe. The weather was so cold, but the bathroom was well.

When she finished and returned to her room, she was still feeling sleepy. Since she was planning to escape at midnight then she decided that she would sleep now.

This time, she didn't have any dreams, but at least she slept well.

……….

Finally, when she woke up, it was nighttime. She was ready.

She brushed her hair and tied it, then wore her warm clothes and took her bag. Most importantly, she held her sword. She prepared fabrics to tie them around her face once she is outside.

She was not going to leave from the window like last time. She was going to leave from the door, and if Kazama or anyone else stood in front of her, then she was going to make a fuss and fight. She was going to either escape or die while trying. Even if they knock her unconscious again, then she'll keep repeating escaping until she succeeds.

Unknown to her, Kazama was not expecting her to escape so fast again, so he didn't do anything to ensure she stayed in her place.

Just like that, she left the inn. It was nighttime, and the weather was colder this time.

Her trek was slow as she didn't have a horse, and she didn't find any carriage moving on the road.

She almost was unsure of where she exactly was, and she couldn't ask anyone because that would be so dangerous.

Soon, she was in the forest, and her trek was becoming more dangerous with each step. She wrapped her face with fabrics so only her eyes were uncovered. This was protecting her lungs from the freezing winds.

Her fingers were burning due to the cold, but she still had to keep her grip tightened around her sword.

Hours passed like that.

……

As it was nearing midnight, Kazama felt that he should check on Chizuru. Maybe he would talk with her again.

He expected to see Chizuru awake and sitting on her futon, but instead, he saw the black and white cat sitting on her futon. It blinked at Kazama briefly with its round eyes.

Not only Chizuru was gone, but her belongings were gone too. Her bag was gone. She couldn't be somewhere in the inn because her belongings were gone, which meant she had escaped again.

"She has the mind of a cow." He whispered.

Sighing, he left the room. He was not in the mood to chase her right now, but it was nighttime, so he had to find her before she got into danger.

……

As time passed, Chizuru felt that her toes were becoming numb due to the cold and the snowy ground. However, what was disturbing her the most were the sounds around her, which were loud in her ears. It was not clear at all if it was the sounds of her own movements or the sounds of other creatures in the forest or the sounds of the windy weather.

Due to her Oni senses, she could feel that there were both humans and animals not very far away from her, but she couldn't know if they were very close to her or not.

She stopped momentarily to turn around and look at the environment around her. There was the sound of something in the bushes. She readied herself as she thought it might be a wolf, but seconds later, she realized it was just a fox that ran out from the bushes near her to other bushes that were farther away.

There were other sounds as well. After all, it was a forest. It was not going to be clear at all if the sounds were those of humans or animals.

She resumed walking. All her senses were sharp, which made all the sounds more annoying to her.

Half an hour passed like that before she heard a voice that froze her senses as she realized that she had fallen in a trap finally.

It was the voice of a whistle.

She looked around. There was none to be seen. She wondered if the voice was an imagination of her mind.

But she heard the voice of a whistle again.

It was repeated for a third time.

It meant someone or some people were watching her.

Could it be Kazama who was playing her? Or some violators? She was not sensing Kazama's presence like she did last time.

She has no idea if it was someone who she could defeat or a group of people who she would be no match against. She could sense that there was a high chance that they were more than one person.

In this case, running was the wisest option.

With her sword still tightly in her grip, she turned around and ran.

She ran out of the road and ran among the trees, so if they had arrows, then they wouldn't shoot her easily.

"It's a woman." She heard someone say that loudly. It meant they were more than one person.

She kept running until she reached a vast field. It was then that as she looked back, she realized she was being chased by several people, and in seconds, she was surrounded by them.

They were eight men. They all looked like bandits.

She looked at the faces and eyes of all of them, and she could clearly see that they were nothing but a group of evils.

"Stay away ." She shouted at them as she held her sword in a position that meant she was ready to fight. But she could see that they were going to find amusement in fighting her.

There was no way that she could speak with them.

She had to fight and open the way for herself to run again.

One of them started approaching her.

As if they were not expecting her to charge, she managed to catch the one who was approaching her off guard and stab him deeply in his cavity. That was enough to kill him soon.

They all looked at her with anger, and before she had the chance to pull her sword out from the man's stomach and turn around, one of the bandits threw what was like a hammer at her back which was enough to make her fall on the ground along with who she stabbed who was severely bleeding.

For a moment, she felt her arms go limp due to the heaviness of the hammer strike on her back but because life was dear to her, she kept her sword in hand, got up and turned to them.

She charged at one of them, and he blocked her strike. But again, before she even got a chance to make another move, another one of the bandits hit her from behind with his sword, making one of her upper limbs completely limp.

Each time she turned around to face any of them, another one attacked her from behind or from the side.

Now, she was severely wounded. With one of her thighs severely cut and severe cuts on her stomach, side and back, she was now unable to keep herself on her feet. All she could do right now was keeping her sword in hand.

One of the bandits told the other men to stop attacking, so he prepares a rope.

Her wounds were too deep for her to close and heal soon. The bandits were not going to keep her alive. They were finding joy in murdering her. They were not intending to stop until she's dead.

So this is the end? This is how she lost the chance of everything in life? If this was the end, then she would at least keep her sword in hand and defend herself until she was dead.

Before the bandit got a chance to prepare the rope, his arm was sent flying as it was cut off by a sword from behind. As he tried to turn around in his shock, his stomach was deeply cut before he was beheaded swiftly. It was all the deed of Kazama.

That was the first time Chizuru felt relieved to see him.

Turning to the other bandits, he assailed and caused severe cuts to each of them before beheading them. Of course, they all together were no match to an Oni like him.

After he was done killing almost all of them, two of the bandits were severely cut and bleeding but still alive as Kazama wanted them alive. He was keeping them for Chizuru.

While the two bandits were grunting in pain, Kazama went to Chizuru, who was unable to get up.

He pulled her forcefully from her injured arm to make her stand, which made her wound open more. The pain from being pulled like that was so severe that she felt unable to see things clearly for a moment. Like that, he dragged her forcefully and painfully to one of the injured bandits.

"Kill him." He said to her harshly. She hesitated, which made Kazama repeat his words.

"Are you going to be that pathetic?" He barked at her. She closed her eyes momentarily due to how loud his voice was in her ears.

"Enough, leave them like this." She finally spoke.

Mad at her, Kazama held her arm harder before he threw her at the ground and beheaded the two bandits himself.

Once done, he was completely covered in blood. His eyes fell on the rope. It was obviously being prepared for Chizuru. He could guess, looking at the way that it was half tied that they were going to put it around her neck.

As he picked up the rope, Amagiri appeared. It was as if he was not expecting to see what he saw when he decided to follow Kazama and Chizuru. He first looked at all the torn bodies and then at Chizuru, who was severely wounded and sitting against a tree. He went to her hurriedly.

Kazama pushed at Amagiri slightly to move away, to which he did before Kazama sat close to Chizuru. She was not looking anxious, but she was looking so tired. She didn't even look at him with offense as she was too tired for that.

"This is what you want, huh?" He spoke to her in a harsh tone as he held the rope in front of her eyes.

Her eyes looked pale and so tired now with one of her eyes covered with blood and bruises. It was as if she was half asleep while listening to him.

As he lowered his hand to put the rope away, his eyes widened in shock as he felt a hard steel sink in his side. Looking in Chizuru's eyes, he instantly knew it was her who stabbed him with her dagger.

He didn't have to pull her hand away as her hand fell to her side right after she stabbed him. He pulled the dagger out and let blood pour out. Chizuru had still managed to stab him a little deeply despite her exhaustion.

Still shocked, he looked back at her. She returned his stare to let him know she would not back down. He should have expected her to do that. To his surprise, he was not feeling angry at her. She was no match at all, and yet she had used what was left from her energy to stab him. Now, he realized she most likely kept holding her sword against the bandits despite being injured deeper each time. She was going to die like that with her sword in hand. That was not a heart-rending fact, but that was a disturbing one.

Not willing to look at her in that state anymore, he stood up without putting a hand on his injury and allowed more blood to pour from it. Once he was away from her, Amagiri approached her to tend to her wounds.

Looking for something to release his anger on, Kazama picked up his sword and hit the trunk of a tree near them hard a few times.

When he was feeling more moderate again, he looked around their environment. The bodies of the bandits were not bleeding anymore as all the ground around them was bloody now.

Chizuru seemed to be feeling better now as she was trying to sit up.

Amagiri helped her sit as the pain in her arms was too much for her to support herself on them.

"You are crazy Yukimura. You have the mind of a child." He shouted at her. She returned the stare at him with more intensity.

"enough." Amagiri said to Kazama.

"Shut up. This has nothing to do with you." Kazama barked at him.

"You have just killed seven people. Go back to the inn before their allies appear, and you are forced to kill more people. " Amagiri continued.

"Did you lower yourself to that extent? I'm doing the villagers a favor by killing more of these." He pointed at the head of one of the bandits with his sword. Amagiri sighed.

Once again, Kazama's eyes fell on Chizuru and all the blood covering her.

"Wrap her with anything, and let's take her back to the inn." He ordered Amagiri and sheathed his sword.

'Chizuru will escape again.' That was what Amagiri thought as he started wrapping Chizuru with his own cloat and carried her like a baby.

Chizuru didn't say anything and allowed herself to rest and sorta get ready to sleep.

When they entered the inn, the workers and some visitors who were sitting in the hall acted like nothing was strange about how Kazama was covered in blood, and Chizuru was wrapped in cloth and carried like a baby as none was daring to say anything. Kazama went to one of the maids and asked her to bring them some supplies to clean themselves as well as to come to take all their dirty clothes. She nodded with her head but couldn't say anything because she felt like she was about to vomit due to the smell of all the blood on him. she was worried that if she opened her mouth, then she would vomit.

Once they entered the room, the plump black and white cat turned its head to them as if it could sense something was very wrong.

Since enough time had passed, Chizuru's injuries were close enough for her to be pain-free, and she was able to move better.

All she wanted to do now was to clean herself of all the blood and change into more comfortable clothes.

Once Amagiri put Chizuru on the futon, the plump black and white cat that was sitting lazily in the room moments ago approached Chizuru slowly with wide eyes.

It came near Chizuru and kept staring at Chizuru with its wide eyes. Then, when Kazama sat nearby, the cat turned its head to Kazama, who was completely covered in blood. Kazama watched the cat as it left Chizuru and approached him and stared in his eyes with its wide ones before it looked at all the blood on his clothes. He pushed the cat slightly with his hand as he was worried that maybe it would start licking the blood from him, which he found disgusting. It kept looking at him for moments before it turned its head to Chizuru again, then returned to a spot that was closer to Chizuru.

He should have followed her earlier. Kazama thought to himself. It was the recklessness from him that allowed this whole situation to occur.