Spring Upon the Solstice

XXII - Requiem for a Traitor

{Jhiro Fukiyama}

To: Ramiel_Five.

The note is addressed to me—big surprise there. As I unfold the paper, I cast a stray glance to the entrance. Locker room is empty as far as I can tell.

~

Hey, Fives. Been a minute since we last talked. I suppose there's no sense in wasting time now.

Of all the people that I have met over my lifetime, you are the first one who has convinced me to do something with my existence. Something grand, something worthwhile. I've lived most of my days unsure and adrift between the Yomiborn and the human sides. But I realize now how futile all of that is. This whole idea of opposition, of polarized factions and systemic hatred, has to be fought.

With that said, I want to come clean with you. I've been lying to you.

I am breaking you out not on a whim, not on some hopeful spout of passion or personal justice. My debt belongs to somebody else, and this is how I repay it. I understand how selfish it is, for me to cleanse my conscience while I destroy yours. However, you deserve the truth, and I don't have a right to hide it from you.

So, in the end, it wasn't really about me. Not sure what I was expecting, but this at least kicks me out of my delusions. Maybe I've been needing this for a while now. Something to wake me up to reality, to check my pride before it spirals out of control again.

The last time my ego ran rampant, it managed to piss off the all-powerful Seidou political dynasty in a tragically infamous social media shitstorm, which for all intents and purposes, landed me and my family into more financial trouble. That led to the Hirosano kids bailing us out, an enduring rivalry with Masaki Seidou, and my sister's disappearance from home. You would think I learned my lesson—I would too—but the truth of the matter is that my arrogance has a cyclical nature to it. And of all the things that could break me, this would have to be it.

Kind of a pitiful way to live, no?

Pity.

I wonder if Katsune feels that towards me.

Pity.

Such a disgusting word, and yet, I can't help but feel as though I deserve it.

You're lucky, you know that? You have people that care about you, who'd fight for you, who would die for you. And you care about those people. You know, your sister cared a lot about you. Maybe she didn't leave you with that impression. I can understand why.

Kizuna...? What does she know about Kizuna?

She wasn't the strongest person in the world, I'll admit. I won't claim to understand her suffering or yours, but I suppose sharing a bloodline with a Yomiborn was enough for society to crush her. And of course, when you got entangled with the Seidous, she felt the heat too. I don't want to overstep my bounds, but without mincing words, she was a runaway, and like any runaway, she was terrified. But she never stopped trying to protect you, and I think that's beautiful.

Were Kizuna and Katsune together, after Kizuna fled Kyoto?