I wasn’t able to do anything…

Whenever Munisai closed his eyes at night, that was the first thing that came to mind. It was a phrase that had haunted him his entire life.

I wasn’t able to do anything…

How many times has it been now that he tried to save his loved ones, and couldn’t?

Every morning he opened his eyes, he asked himself the same question.

Ever since he was a kid, he trained day in and day out until he fully mastered his sword and his control over his Shadow Manipulation Sign.

He was so good at both that it wasn’t long before everyone around him respected him and held him in high regard.

Even the Shadow Queen herself, a young princess around his age at the time, came to value his friendship and skills.

When she was named the successor to the throne in line to become the new Shadow Queen, she relied on him at every turn.

He felt proud, he could use the skills and power he trained so hard to master for the good, to protect his family and his clan.

It wasn’t long that he earned himself the title of Sword Saint, no one could deny that he was the strongest, and most reliable swordsman in the entire Kage Clan.

And yet, when the time came and the clan was invaded by enemies, he failed.

He lost his precious family.

And It all came crumbling down…

I wasn’t able to do anything…

He lost his will to live and spent most of his days indoors, refusing to meet anyone, refusing any help, refusing any treatment for the leg he had lost. He was merely 26 years old at this point.

Weeks passed and the wound of his missing left leg had gotten infected. The fever was so strong that he couldn’t get out of bed, but he didn’t care.

For all he knew, this was what he had deserved.

To die alone to a mere sickness.

Yes, that was his rightful punishment.

Then suddenly…

BAM!

The door to his barren estates flew open. He heard heavy and quick footsteps down the hallway.

For a second, he thought he must be hallucinating, but there would’ve been far better hallucinations for him to have, surely.

Why would the new Shadow Queen and a friend of his family be standing over his futon in his room?

Why are they carrying all those towels and medical equipment?

Surely, they weren’t…

“NO…! Leave me be!” Munisai dragged his body to get up, but his arms quickly gave out and he began to descend back down.

“I got you!” The friend of his family had caught him at the last second, lending him a shoulder.

She was thinner than he remembered… He wondered if she had lost weight lately, but it wasn’t like he was in any position to speak about such things himself.

He stole a glance at her face, but instead of the bright smile she usually wore, her trembling eyes were narrow and looking down… Was she gritting her teeth?

It’s all because of me… isn’t it? He reprimanded himself in his mind.

At least she wore her hair in the cute bun she always had. That was something.

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“Tori… Why are you here?” Munisai looked at her, barely able to keep his eyes open.

“Sorry, Munisai… I should’ve come sooner… She… She was my friend too.” Tori looked to the side, avoiding his blue eyes directly.

The Shadow Queen stood over them, her face obscured by the shadows of the hallway. She looked down at them, biting her lip.

She couldn’t bear to see the man she had respected so much in this state.

“Go back… Go away! Both of you! Leave me be, this is my cross to bear!” Munisai shouted, struggling with every breath he took.

The Queen gritted and grinded her teeth, before exploding.

“Munisai! Get a hold of yourself! Is this really what you’ve become?! Are you the kind of weak man, a man who gives up and lets himself die like this?!”

She shouted, her words carrying sentiments of worry and friendship, not just her usual authoritative tone.

“Get up! The man I know, the man I respect, wouldn’t let this stop him! Get up and fight!” She swung her arm through the air in front of her, flapping her loose kimono sleeve to the side as she spoke with determination.

He forced his head up to face her.

Her pink eyes glowed in the dark as she looked at him in his dejected pupils.

“You… you don’t understand…I…” Munisai began to speak.

I wasn’t able to do anything…

All Munisai could remember after that were brief flashes of consciousness as either Tori or the Shadow Queen herself stood next to him and tended to his body.

Before he realized it, over a week had gone by and the wound on his missing leg was closed. Even the fever broke along with it.

Seeing him awake and alive, the Queen quickly went back to her castle to resume her duties, puffing and huffing the entire time, telling him that he owes her for life.

For the following weeks after that, Tori stayed with him, tended to his needs and helped him get back on his feet.

While he was still unable to be content with his current life, he didn’t want to cause more trouble for those who seemed to still care for him.

And so, he got up.

He decided to keep going for a while longer.

This time though, he would no longer carry his sword, that life was behind him.

Before long, he got ensnared… And eventually gave in. Not even the Sword Saint could resist the matters of the heart, after all.

Munisai and Tori got married and had a daughter they named Jun.

He opened a Dojo named the Shadow Sword Style School and started teaching young kids how to wield the sword properly in combination with their Shadow Manipulation Sign.

Munisai felt as if his life had finally taken a turn for the better.

While his missing leg acted as a constant reminder of his failure…

The sight of his wife and daughter playing in the backyard, Tori consistently burning her tongue on tea and pouting, his daughter laughing and giggling innocently…

That was all he needed to keep going, even if it’s one day at a time.

And then, it all came crumbling down once again.

Another invasion on the Kage village.

This time, it was a three headed giant wolf known as Kerberos. It had broken through a hidden tunnel and made it all the way to the clan.

And what timing it had, it towered over them right as Munisai and his family were on their way back home from visiting the Shadow Queen.

“Go! Protect her! Warn the clan! The tunnel has been breached!” His wife, Tori, shouted as she quickly adjusted the sword on her waist.

Looking at the trembling five year old daughter in his arms, Munisai had to make a choice fast.

“I’ll come back! Just hold it off until then! Be careful!” He promised her as his daughter screamed and called for her mother.

“Mommyyyy!”

He turned around, leaving his wife behind, and moved his crutch as fast as he could.

It’s okay! She can do this… I don’t even have my sword… She is strong!

His wife wasn’t just a simple housewife, everyone knew this. Even amongst the clan that was full of Shadow Manipulation Sign users, she stood out for her exceptional talents and skills with it.

In fact, she was one of those rare individuals that perfected a certain ability with their Signs.

The Kage Clan only saw one of these talents every few decades, sometimes even centuries.

He trusted she could win.

For her part, Tori watched her husband and daughter fade into the distance before turning around and unsheathing her blade.

image [https://i.imgur.com/4BHzAA7.jpeg]

“For a beast with three heads, you’re quite dumb to attack this clan!” Her lavender eyes glowed as she glared at the giant wolf towering over her, “Anyone with only one head could’ve figured that out!”

“Grrrr!”

In an instant, shadows erupted from under Tori and swirled all around her slender form. As if taking their natural place, some remnants of purple-ish blackness converged to make an emblem right in front of their master’s forehead.

Tori wasn’t so naive to think she could win against the beast without going all out from the very start.

“I won’t let you harm a single soul!” She shouted, before jumping toward the monster in front of her.

There was neither fear, nor worry within her.

She had determined herself to give everything she can to the protection of the village.

To the protection of her family.

image [https://i.imgur.com/UxTCNfO.jpeg]

**👑**

By the time Munisai had made it back, two giant wolf heads had been separated from the beast, who was nowhere to be found.

Munisai darted his head around as the villagers tried to help the wounded. He had felt a deep sense of unease on his way back, as if the shadows under him had been torn asunder.

And then he saw it, the body of his wife laying on the ground at a distance, unmoving.

A small puddle of blood grew bigger and bigger under her.

His heart skipped a beat, and then another.

Time stopped for him as the old horrific trauma began to make its way back into his mind.

I wasn’t able to do anything…

I’m always unable to save the ones I care about…

“T-Torii!!!” He snapped out of it and ran to her as fast as his crutch allowed him to.

“M-Munisai… you’re back…” Tori turned her head to face her husband as she managed to let out through her pain.

She watched him struggle to get to her, the expression on his face made him seem a lot older than just a 33 year old man.

Heh, I bet you’d look even better older… She chuckled in her mind.

Munisai quickly threw his crutch to the side and got on his knees.

He looked at his wife’s bloodied body and for a second, forgot to breathe again.

His shaking arms tried to reach for her body, but her current state was now clear to him.

He realized what that meant.

“Tori… your wounds…!” Tears welled up in his eyes as he tried to support his wife’s head.

I can’t lose you too…

My heart can’t take it…

Because of me…

Not again…

I couldn’t do anything again…

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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]