hakai | gabimaru

三

Salt in the air and moon above her face, Rika scrunches her face and is surprised to see the clear dark sky, full moon and the bright little stars right in front of her. Blinking her eyes multiple times as she tries to sit up, she is surprised to feel the sand in the palm of her hands, back of her legs and body. They are supposed to be alive anymore, with their ovule destroyed and broken, their bodies should have been deduced to a child or better left dead. Turning her head to the side, even Riku looked the same, except the front of his clothes looked tattered and torn. Though she remained unclothed, Rika carefully detached her hand from his; scooping his head and placing above her lap.

'How odd.' Rika thinks, her nimble and candle stick shaped fingers gently thread through the long. 'We came back to life yet still retaining our natural bodies instead of turning back into a child.' She further thinks. Turning her head around their surroundings, it didn't seem as if the waves had returned them back to Kotaku. If anything, she could see small huts, trees and animals from a distance. It seemed as if, they have floated all the way to Edo.

"R-Rika?" She hears her twin brother mutter her name, tilting her head down to look at him.

A small smile painted her lips as she watches him slowly fluctuate his eyelids until he can fully open them again. "Good morning." She greets him, tucking a few strands of her white hair behind her ear. "It seems we've arrived at-" Rika wasn't able to finish what she is saying as Riku immediately sits up on the sand, removing his long sleeved hanfu and handing it to her.

"You can have it." He says, not minding his own clothes. Stretching his neck on either side. "Stay here. I'll steal some clothes for you."

As she watches Riku walk away, she could only look back to him. The small smile on her face returning while she slips her hands into the long sleeves of his hanfu.

"Kind as always." She mutters to herself. Turning her head to look at the ocean waves crashing against each other on the shore.

"I've got you some clothing." Riku begins to say, handing to Rika a set of neatly folded clothes. "I'm a hundred percent sure that the design is to your liking."

Standing up from the sand and dusting them away from her body, she examines the kimono and obi he has given her. The kimono's color is pre dominantly black with golden prints of flowers and butterflies; the obi is also gold in color and is also decorated with roses. Removing the hanfu and returning it back to Riku, she puts the new garments giving to her, pushing her long white hair with light green tips back. With the new clothing hugging her frame, Rika felt as if they truly are born again with their sole purpose. Placing her hands on her hips, she turns to face Riku.

"Does it not peak your curiosity?" She asks him, wondering as to why she hasn't heard a single question coming out of his lips. "How we retain our bodies when were supposed to be born again as children?" She asks him once more. The more she kept her eyes on Riku, the more she could see that his face did not retain any curious facial expression. A soft sigh escapes her lips. What is she going to do about this behavior of his.

"I didn't think any of it." Riku replies, honesty dripping from his lips like milk and honey. "But now that you've mentioned it, it got me thinking too." He adds, placing a hand above his tattered top. "If you're going to ask me if I could recall anything, all I could recall is telling Mei to take a step back before I could engage in a fight with Zhu Jin." He says, his eyebrows furrowing. "The next thing I know, Rien came with your body hoisted above the shoulder."

Hearing that name again made her roll her eyes. It was foolish on Rika's part to believe that Rien would protect her over anything. Once a toy, always a toy. "I am over those people." She replies, beginning to walk away, Riku following in tow. Now that they are in Edo, she needed to come up with a plan; a plan to return and overthrow them.

"Hey" Rika begins to say, halting from her steps. She extends a hand out and points to a palm tree to Riku. "You either pick up that tree or destroy it for me. Do however you see fit." She instructs him.

Without any hesitation, Riku takes steps forward until he stood in front of the palm tree Rika had been pointing at him. Cracking his knuckles, he begins to throw a series of punches in a single go, the palm tree breaking into a half. As the other half fell on the other side, Riku picks it up with his bare hands. Seeing the result had her grinning a little. Truly, whatever happened to them isn't a miracle.

Such miracles and fate doesn't exist.

"Impressive as always." She remarks, watching Riku place the broken half of the palm tree down back on the ground. As Rika takes steps closer, standing in front of her twin brother, she places a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's part ways from here."

"WHAT?!"

"You'll do just fine on your own, Riku." Rika says, consoling her brother as she takes one step closer to him. Standing on her tip toes as she wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him with a bright smile painted on her lips, eyes closed. It wasn't until she moves her head so her lips levels with his ear.

"Listen to what I'm about to tell you." She begins to say, whispering in his ear. "Whatever or whoever helped us, clearly wants us to return to the island. We know nothing of Edo and it's our best option to split up. You gather your own intel and I'll gather mine." She continues whispering in his ear. Riku not speaking of anything, his hands still to his sides.

"Every week I'll come to you and tell you of what I've gathered. In the end, we'll return to the island. You did say you want to kill, right?" She asks, parting away from the hug. With Riku's unwavering intention to kill along with her gathered information, the two of them can return. Burn Horai, Hojo and Eishu down to the ground until nothing is left and have the last laugh. She didn't wanted immortality anyway. What is the point of immortality if along the process of it, they're trampling other lives down.

"On your way, don't settle to be a craftsman nor a merchant." She says, her hands moving to fix his clothes for him despite that tatter. "Aim for something bigger." She ribs him. Looking up at Riku, she could see him holding back and choking on his tears.

"Don't cry!" She chuckles, standing on her tiptoes again to place her hand above his head. "It wasn't our fault that we got caught in the end. We'll definitely come back to get Mei with us." She promises, smiling up at her younger brother.

"Until then, we'll do our part." She says, closing her eyes and intertwining their fingers together.

"I am you."

"And you are me."

As both twins part on different paths, they find themselves sub sequentially on different paths. Rika standing in front of the Sado House; an Oiran house and Riku standing in front of the Yamada door.