Love Returned From The Ashes

Reflecting On Hoshimachi

Suisei pov: Waiting for Azkichi to finish her chat with Iroha is exhausting. I want another fight, and I want it now!

"Hey Sui-chan, do you want to fight?" Toko-chan asked

She practically read my mind, and I nodded and stood up, "Of course!" I yelled

"Have fun..." Azki-chan said as she continued to chat with Sora-chan and Iroha Koyori as well.

Toko-chan and I ran outside as fast as possible, getting ready to fight.

She began to run at me as fast as she could.
She reached me and slashed at me at blinding speeds. I barely dodged it by jumping back.

"Good, try to catch me off guard!" I laughed

"I know!" She screamed as she did a jumping slash, but I sidestepped away from it. She immediately landed and got on all fours, acting like a feral animal.

"I'll beat you, though!" I told her.

"Grrrr" She growled and immediately launched herself at me. I tilted myself to the right, only getting cut by her claws slightly, and I felt blood drip down my one wound.
"The first one to die wins..." She laughed

She dashed at me, but I raised my axe, and I clashed my axe with her nails. Sparks began to fly, "tsk," and I scoffed as I gritted my teeth and swung the axe at her, cutting into her face slightly. We have matching wounds now.

"Be serious, you could have sliced my head off there." Toko stated

"I don't want that," I said.

"We just agreed this is to the death!" Toko screamed

"I know I did..." I replied.

I ran at Toko-chan and saw a younger version of myself again. She glared at me, and I was transported into a vestige space.

"Welcome back, Suisei," she told me. "Do you still want to roam down this path?" She asked me

"Of course I do. I am not going to change my ways. I want to kill. I want to see people die for the sake of the ones that are good," I said.

"You are still on this, Hoshimachi Suisei? Why are you so adamant about killing? Is that truly what you want?" I asked myself

"It's a sin against my father! People are sickening, and they can be sweet as well. I just want to protect the ones that are good and not the ones that are bad.

"That is true, but you can't just tell yourself that you aren't a little like your father if you keep running; you are no better than him, and the ending you want is just running," I said.

"I am running." I growled

"Think about the path you are heading towards. Will you get a happy ending?" I asked myself

"I will reach that happy ending," I said.

"Then embrace me one last time!" The other me said:

"Okay, I will embrace you." I said, "I am a sin."

"Sui-chan!" Toko-chan yelled at me. I looked at her and sighed.

"Sorry, I need to sit down for a second." I mumbled

I just need to think.

"Azki," I said quietly.

"What Sui-chan?" Azki asked

"I love you," I told her. "Do you feel the same, Azki? Do you love me?" I asked

"Yes, I do love you, Suisei," she said.

I knew it was in a sisterly kind of way; I also felt like that, but I needed to get something off my chest. I pulled out my axe and squeezed the handle so hard that my hand began to bleed.

"Toko-chan, my feelings are all over the place." I mentioned

"How so?" She asked

"I love Azki still." I told her.

"Love who you want to; I know you still love me, so you can also have a crush on Azki," I was told.

I could tell she was looking at me. She just waited for me to speak again, unlike someone else.

"Do you know what it means to love me?" I asked her.

"Yes, I do," she said.

We fell silent and lunged at each other, passing one another, and standing there, I had cut her chest, so blood began to pour out of her.

"You realize that loving me will be your end. All I bring is death." I told her, "I may want to kill you one day."

I suddenly felt a sharp pain and fell to my knees as I noticed I had been slashed as well. Azki showed me a knife she had been holding.

"If need be, I'm ready to kill you as your best friend." Azki told me

"Then do it," I said.

"There is no need. You aren't evil. You have a good heart. You are just confused," Azki said.

"Azki told me I have a good heart, and it made me really happy to be honest, but at the same time, I don't understand what heart means.

"You two fought right, and you spoke on equal footing, right?" She asked

"Yeah," I said.

"Sui-chan, I care about you dearly." Azki told me to make my heart beat faster.

Azki lifted my hand and gently kissed it. I know that something like that is completely harmless, but my mind went blank. I love her, but why don't I feel romantic towards her? Her purple-blue eyes spoke to me; they were loving, but deep down, I knew... I stopped myself. I don't want to think like that.

"Azkichi, you really know how to give me a good time," I laughed.

"Oh, do I now?" Azki asked

I walked up to her and hugged her. She hugged me back gently, letting me ease into things. I felt something run down my face, which confused me. I let out a sniffle and closed my eyes, just letting myself try to grasp my thoughts.

"Let everything out, okay?" Azki told me

I relaxed and stopped hugging her, but she never stopped hugging me. I don't get what the hell is going on with me; why am I acting like this?

I began to hear footsteps behind me: "Ah, there you two are!" Anemachi said

Azki let go of me and smiled, gently wiping my face. I noticed tiny teardrops on her hand. "Be strong," she whispered.

"Sui-chan, are you okay?" Toko-chan asked me

"Yeah, I am," I told her calmly.

"Were you just crying?" Anemachi laughed

"No, I wasn't." I pouted

"You were crying; don't worry; I won't judge you!"

"I'm sorry you have to see this." I said

"Don't worry about it. Don't hold back your emotions." Toko-chan said

"I promise I won't," I told her.

I went up to her and gently petted her head, closing my eyes. This was oddly calming to me.

"Toko-chan I-" I paused before finishing my sentence.

I continued to think about things. What does it mean to be Hoshimachi Suisei? What does it mean to be loved?

"Toko-chan, do you love me?" I asked

"Yes, I do," she said.

"Toko-chan, thank you." I suddenly said

"You're welcome" Toko-chan said

She didn't even ask me why I was thanking her; she just knew she did a good job.