Breath of the Void

Breath of the Void: Chapter 9

THE LOSTBELT SPOILERS KILLED ME. WHAT THE HECK. MY POOR BABY /sobs.

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For the first time in a long time, Musashi dreamt.

She had known that Tanjirou would be joining her and Kyojuro, but she hadn't expected the boy to ask about a Breath Style that Kyojuro didn't know about. Still, she was glad to fall back into sleep as the train continued into the night.

She hadn't expected herself to dream.

Nor did she ever expect herself to be back in her home dimension.

She gazed down at her hands— they were so small. She was six, it seemed. So young, so vulnerable.

She stood in front of a gravestone eyes blank as she gazed at the worn name. Omasa Munesada.

She only vaguely remembered this place, hidden deep within a bamboo grove with other graves around it. The resting place of her mother, the first person whose life she had taken.

Omasa Munesada died in childbirth, leaving Shinmen to grieve and with a daughter he didn't want at all. Footsteps approaching made her turn, the hazy path obscured by a man as he approached. She felt her heart stop, despite the dream.

She recognized that man, how could she not when he shared the same face as her?

Shinmen Musashi.

Her own Father.

Her mother had dark hair, is what she had always been told, and a gentle face. The only thing Musashi ever got from her mother were the soft features of her face, everything else was from her father. The pale, pink-ish blonde-white hair, the sharp, blue eyes. The same devious smirk when confident and set jaw when the throughs of concentration.

And now she was staring into those eyes again.

'It's a dream. It's a dream. That's all it is. He's gone. Your home dimension is gone— has been gone.'

"Musashi?"

She felt her chest ache. He had never called her by her name before. It was always "girl" or "brat". He never acknowledged her as anything other than a pest. He hadn't thrown her out until she was four, but he all but abandoned her in his own Estate.

Had he hoped for a son after she was born if Omasa hadn't died? Or was it that he couldn't stand to look at the child who killed the woman he loved? Shirota was already six when she was born, so he had a son to train. Was he disappointed in the fact that she was a girl?

She didn't know, but she stepped back from the man as he slowly made his way closer, hand outstretched.

"Where have you been?" he asked and she took another step back. A clink made her look behind her. A small sword, no bigger than a wakizashi, was laying there. She knew the sword instantly.

'This is one of my earliest swords. I stole it from a smith.'

She grabbed it, unsheathing it and holding it in front of her. It was heavy and she couldn't use just one hand with it. She felt unbalanced, but she wasn't going to let Shinmen get closer.

Dream or not, she was going to continue to resist.

"Put the sword down, Bennosuke," the man tried again and she bristled. How would he know that name? He had ignored her until she had beat him in a duel... she was still young then, too. Nine or ten, she couldn't remember.

He wouldn't have known that name unless he asked one of the old ladies who had given her that nickname down int he village.

She didn't respond, continuing to back away. She had no love for this man. She had no love for him after everything. Not even in dreams, she never would.