“You really are a disappointment,” The image of Hassai whispered in Inaki’s ears. It absolutely did not help Inaki that he would be meeting the real Hassai soon. What would he have to say about his stupid son. His two disappointments.

Inaki looked at Gonten without his right arm, just when he was coming into his own as a swordsman. Now both of Hassai’s children had their ability as swordsmen taken from them.

Inaki once again strained his muscles to move, screaming, he scrunched up his face in the tension, trying to do anything more than twitch his toes and fingers, but he couldn’t do much.

He then began crying as he tried to move his muscles, screaming and crying, but it was all to no avail. He had truly lost. Not just his duels, but something more.

Inaki stopped trying, and collapsed into his pillow, as the monk turned him on his back again, and put the blanket on him.

“You will recover soon,” Takehito said, getting up, and walking out of the room, leaving only Gonten there.

The next morning, when Inaki woke up, he could move his neck, twitch his toes more and move his fingers more. He felt a little triumph that day, but felt all the worse, as the monk stepped in, to clean him up. Gonten came in to feed him with his one working hand for lunch and dinner, otherwise, Inaki spent the rest of his time in his thoughts, like a waking dream.

Inaki’s eyes were closed, and he was standing on a column of corpses, Taral in front of him bleeding and bruised, reached out his hands and said, “Give up the sword.”

“Why did you let me go, why didn’t you kill me for all that I did to you,” Inaki screamed in his own head.

Taral was quiet, and began walking away. Inaki looked around at the corpses he was standing on and saw his brother as one of them. He saw the other masters, his mother. Inaki had no friends to speak of, but he could see some of the disciples of the Tomoka school in the pile.

His eyes opened, and he stared at the ceiling. It was the morning of the third day since Inaki’s assault on the Yaroka castle. He could move enough to raise himself onto his bed. Once again, the monk came in the evening to clean him up, giving him more embarrassment than he could bear. On that day, he could at least eat on his own, but he still found himself in a vision once again.

He was holding his sword, but he couldn’t pick it up. Hassai stood in front of him. “Come on, pick up your sword.”

“I am trying,” Inaki said, the wooden practice sword felt like it weighed tons, he simply couldn’t raise it. Hassai stepped forward and slapped Inaki in the face and said. “What am I going to do with such a useless legacy as you two.”

Inaki opened his eyes on the fourth morning, and this time he could walk. Takehito made him walk in the garden, it was looking quite nice, a far-cry from when they had first started. There weren’t many flowers that had grown, but the grass was thick and the flowers which were there, gave the place a serene scent.

Inaki did not dream on the fourth night. He woke up to the fifth day, and continued trying to walk in the garden. His feet felt like they were tied down with lead weights, he felt horrible as he walked, more horrible than he had ever felt in his life. He didn’t know how to describe the feeling. He didn’t know why, but he had a horrible pain in his back, and an even worse pain on the back of his head.

That night Inaki dreamed himself stuck to his bed. Itto stepped into the room, and stabbed him in the chest. Inaki screamed, but he didn’t die just then. Itto kept stabbing him, screaming about his brother and his friends.

Inaki woke up on the sixth day, and today, it was easier to move and run. Much easier than it had been on the previous two days. Takehito made him exercise vigorously.

On the night of the sixth day, Inaki did not dream, he was happy that he didn’t because the only dreams he got were now nightmares. By the seventh morning he was feeling much better. They received a letter from a messenger, that Inaki and Gonten had missed their father’s welcome ceremony, and that he was now waiting for them to arrive.

It was the eighth morning, when Inaki was ready to leave.

“Thank Okan for your luck,” Takehito said, as Inaki packed his bag, with the two wooden swords he had brought with him both missing.

“Are you coming back,” Gonten asked Takehito.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

“No, I don’t think so,” Takehito said. “I met Hassai recently, I have no reason to visit again. I’ll wait for you in Gael, reach there soon.”

“Yes,” Gonten said.

Then the two of them set out from Yaroka, to return to Tomoka, and meet their father. Inaki still didn’t know how to feel, since he hadn’t held a sword in his hand since that night with the Yaroka.

The two of them walked through the forest path in silence, until Inaki broke the silence. “I am so sorry brother.”

“For what,” Gonten said.

“For your arm,” Inaki said. “You were just becoming good with the sword, and I stopped all of that.”

“I never thought of you as one to apologize,” Gonten said. “Don’t worry, becoming a swordsman was never my path. Anyways, now I will have to use a sword in the garden, since shears definitely need two hands.” Then Gonten laughed, holding his empty sleeve with his left hand.

After a day and a night of journeying hard, the two of them reached the gates of Tomoka. The gates opened, and once the guard saw that it was Inaki and Gonten, his eyes shot in surprise, he stepped back from the gate, and ran.

“Please wait for a moment sir,” Another guard said, stepping in front of Inaki.

Inaki could see people running around. They ended up being held up there for an hour. Soon enough, the guard stepped out of his way, and they allowed Inaki to step forward.

As he walked through the gates, citizens of Tomoka—those who had the Tomoka in their name because they lived here, not because they belonged to the main family—began raining down flowers on Inaki and Gonten as they walked.

Inaki couldn’t help but look down at the floor. These people thought that they were welcoming him back in victory, but he had been defeated in the worst way for a swordsman, Taral had not only defeated Inaki, but also taken away his chance to become a better swordsman. Inaki hadn’t touched a sword since. Inaki almost had a vain hope that when he picked up a sword, the monks would be proven false. Deep within, he knew that he was just lying to himself.

The path laid out to them with people throwing flowers on each side soon reached the castle gates. At the gates of the castle, father was nowhere to be seen, which made Inaki feel a little down, but he would meet him eventually.

“Your father is still busy getting back into his habits,” Ivanta said, welcoming Inaki and Gonten in. The two of them were then led through the castle, up the stairs and into Hassai’s study. Hassai’s study was a small room with a few chairs, and one table. Each of the walls had bookshelves along them, and each of those bookshelves were completely filled, with not enough space for even one more book.

Once Inaki reached there, he looked, and saw his father hunched over a table looking at some ledgers. He turned behind and saw that Inaki was standing there, and stood up enthusiastically.

“Welcome son,” Hassai said, standing in front of Inaki. This was the real man, not some image made up by Inaki in his head,and for the first time in his life, Inaki saw Hassai.

“I am so proud of you,” Hassai said, welcoming Inaki with a smiling embrace.

Inaki couldn’t help but smile. Why would he say that so quickly? Inaki thought.

“So,” Hassai said. “Aren’t you going to tell me about everything that happened at Yaroka castle?”

“Yes,” Inaki said like an excited child.

Inaki narrated the entire story from beginning to end, even the part where Taral let him go. Inaki wanted to ask his father since he was a Sage, and he would probably know. But once he was done narrating the story, Inaki stepped back, getting ready for Hassai to scream at him.

“You defeated a Diamond,” Hassai said, in a praising tone instead of a bashing one.

“Yes,” Inaki said. “You aren’t disappointed I lost to Taral?”

“What,” Hassai said. “You expect me to be disappointed that my son who hadn’t even gotten his steel blade yet lost against a Sage.”

Inaki looked at Hassai and he felt confused. This wasn’t the man that he had been living with in his head for so long.

“I must send a letter of thanks to Taral,” Hassai said. “But you did a very wrong thing.”

“What,” Inaki said.

“You should not have attacked the castle alone, whether or not Taral had apologized,” Hassai said. “You shouldn’t have burned Shinra’s grave.”

“But he came here, embarrassed me and left,” Inaki said. “I needed to avenge my honor.”

“Did you,” Hassai asked.

“No,” Inaki responded.

“Was it worth it,” Hassai said.

Inaki stood silently.

“I know about your injuries,” Hassai said. “Takehito sent me a letter a week ago.”

“I am sorry,” Inaki said.

“It’s okay,” Hassai said.

Inaki found himself becoming more and more confused as he looked at his father. Hassai was smiling, even as he was telling Inaki his wrong doings he wasn’t screaming.

That man Inaki saw in his head seemed to be the complete opposite of the man he saw in front of him. In his head Inaki saw a hard man, someone judicious with praise, and yet the first words that Inaki heard from Hassai was praise.

Inaki had expected Hassai to be a stern man but he carried a smile all the time. No, these weren’t just expectations, they were accounts. Had something during his two decade long pilgrimage changed him?

Inaki felt uncomfortable as if he was going to vomit, as the image of Hassai in his head was warped.