A Shogun's Fall

Chapter 12: This is not Goodbye

Rain pours as the grey clouds darken the sky. All were wearing black kimonos, some were soaked from the rain and didn't bother to find some shelter from the rain, instead. They continue to stare. What were they looking at? They are looking down on the lifeless body of Kamisato Kotaro inside a coffin. All around his coffin were his family and servant, his friends and colleagues. Even the Raiden Shogun herself came to honor him by attending his own funeral. Tears and sorrows were all that they felt. 

As the priest said his closing words. He closed Kotaro's coffin and the men there carried the coffin and placed it gently in the hole they intend to bury him. Kaiden looked at Kotaro's children and saw only Ayato shedding tears while Ayaka on the other hand stared, a sad look on her face yet there were no tears. As the guests all threw flowers on top of his coffin, Ayaka quickly walked away and only Kaiden saw her leaving. 

Still injured, he limped all the way to where Ayaka hid, She was behind a small mausoleum, sniffling and shedding tears. "Ayaka?" He called out to her.

Ayaka jumped in surprise when she heard Kaiden calling her name. "Ah! Kaiden-san! Shouldn't you be there with father?" She asked, trying to hide her sorrows with a smile.

"I could ask you the same thing," Kaiden retorted as he sat down next to Ayaka. Though from his wounds, he struggled to do so he still managed to sit down. "It's not like your father's going to be ashamed of you for crying."

"I know that... But... I don't know... I lost both of my parents already. Mother was gone and father now too... I have to be strong... I don't want people to see me at my weakest." 

"But crying is no sign of weakness. Your father shed a single tear when the thought of him not seeing you two again, you and Ayato. His precious children. So please, cry your heart out, Ayaka. If you need a shoulder to lean on, I'll be here." 

Ayaka's eyes started going red and her mouth shook and tears were shed as she cried her heart out, from a distance. Ayato heard someone crying and thought it was Ayaka, he rushed behind the mausoleum and saw her crying her heart out with Kaiden petting her head. Kaiden saw Ayato as he too was on the verge of tears, Kaiden then prompts him to join, Ayato then sat on the opposite side of Ayaka and he too leaned on Kaiden's shoulder and cried. 

~~

It has been a month now after Kamisato Kotaro was buried, a lot of repairs had been made all around Inazuma, the Renaisian soldiers instead of being imprisoned, they were punished by helping out the repair under Kaiden's orders, and since he still technically is a Colonel. Speaking of Colonels, Livia was sent to a healer after she was found out that she had survived the war, currently. She is resting, unconsciously. The majority of the Sangonomiya soldiers were also punished and were sent to the coal mines along with the Shigaraki clan soldiers where they will be working there until further notice. As for Laswell, she is still nowhere to be seen around Inazuma, Laslow was getting worried about her. Inoue told him and also Kaiden that the one leading the defense in Watatsumi Island and it's capital was none other than Laswell but she escaped as soon as the gates were destroyed. The majority of their troops there were engineers, meaning. They can't really attack back. But even with the majority of it being engineers, General Beckett left a battalion of them there and it did took a while for the Tenryou soldiers and Inoue to actually win.

Hearing the waves crashing against the earth and the sound of the winds blowing in several directions. Kaiden was at peace. Then, he heard footsteps

"Ah, there you are," The voice that called out to him was cold and unemotional, knowing who it was, he opened his eyes and turned around to see the Raiden Shogun. "I was told by Ayaka-sama that I would find you here. This is where Kamisato Kotaro meditates, yes?"