𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 | 𝑺.𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒛𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒘𝒂

𝟔 | 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞

~*~

DAY 7

The faint and yet warm glow of the Wisteria were finally coming to view, as the day was slowly becoming more brighter. My eyes hazily drift up, with relief washing over me. Blood tainted my exposed skin, my body gauzed and clothes torn. My hair was messily cut shorter than before, but all I felt was excitement to reach the end. 

Whispering under my heavy breath, "I made it,"

Soon trailing down to where the gates stood at the entry, I was greeted by only three people standing outside. Realisation soon hits, knowing out of fifteen counting me, only four survived. Death was such a common thing, but it was always so freshly painful.

Tucking the hanafuda earring into my pocket, I trudge towards the group where the woman stood last time.

"Welcome back and congratulations, I'm pleased to see that you're safe," She smiles, even though it was a painful smile. She knew what had happened, but she needed to move past it. It hurts.

 "First now I shall issue you all uniforms, I will take your measurements, after which your rank will be engraved. There are ten ranks in all......kinoe, kinoto, hinoe, hinto, tsuchinoe, tsuchinoto, kanoe, kanoto, mizunoe and mizunoto. Currently you all are at the lowest rank, mizunoto. Now today I will let you all choose the ore for your swords. However, the swords will take ten to fifteen days to complete."

She soon claps her hands together, before crows came flying down. 

Lifting my arm a crow perches upon my arm, feeling familiar with my brother's crow. He even warned that each have different personalities, so I must figure around mine.

"Now we will now assign each of you your own kasugai crow," She added. "These kasugai crows can be used primarily for communication......."

She then steps away showing the table behind her, displaying some kind of stone or ore.

".........Now please select an ore, the steel for the sword........that will annihilate demons and protect you.....will be of your own choosing."

Standing there for a moment, I take it what was there and what I felt about each one. Yet the other three stepped forward quickly, taking an ore randomly, hoping beginners luck or something. Making my way up, all I could think was the possibilities of what I would get.

Father had a blue nichirin blade, and Ryuji has a turquoise one......so....?

Picking up one of the ores I felt my heart set on it, before passing it to the woman who kept her memory on who's ore is who's. Wasting no time at all, she soon smiles softly.

"Great choice, now your swords will take about ten to fifteen days to be ready so in the meantime just rest at home," She informs us, before bowing to all of us. Given by that I guess it was time to leave, as I turn on my heel making my way towards the stairs. My body was aching all over, my eyes were fighting sleep. My wounds were numb by now, knowing those will be permanent scars.

Step by step, my head hung lower trying to fight sleep.

Lifting my head after a while of walking down the hundred stairs or more, there he stood before me. His eyes were wide, taken back from my sudden approaching figure before him. Soon a smile drifts to his face, before I take one more step onto the ground.

"Y-You're alive," he voice broke, but with such relief. He embraces me with warning, holding me closer when I whimper in pain, as he pressed against my tender wounds. 

"Ngh.......Ryuji," I groan out, as he gasps pulling away. He lowers his top half to analyse my face, before seeing my torn clothes, my disheveled hair that was cut off out of haste.