Vow

Left here, then turn right at the far end.

Fuck! It's not this room!

Kaji checks the map again. He made a wrong turn. He dashes back. The boots might overload. He's using them a ton. Yet he can't waste a single second.

Another left.

Forward through a corridor.

Then right.

He can see it. At the end of a very long corridor. A big closed door.

A distant echo sounds.

It's approaching.

He's coming!

Midway through the corridor, he dares to look back.

He sees him, pointing with his staff.

Kaji barely avoids a shot at his foot.

He's catching up.

Why is he faster?

How unfair can his equipment get?

Kaji points his feet forward and clashes on the door.

Not a dent.

How the fuck does it open, Hoshina!?

"That's far enough."

"Fuck!" Kaji punches the door, a loud thud echoing through the corridor.

He turns around at the Arc Warrior.

There are multiple dents in his armor. A piece of his headgear is broken, revealing a black eye underneath.

A tired eye.

Kaji points his cane at him.

"At this range we'll both hit one another. And you have no protection."

Kaji presses the trigger, his thunderbolt's stopped by a barrier. He continues pressing the trigger as the cane heats up.

Until it stops working.

He switches to the one in his metal arm and shoots as well.

Stopped by a second barrier. Mugen had an additional cane as well.

Kaji releases the trigger before his second weapon breaks.

But it doesn't matter. He can't win.

"You're clever, and have good reflexes. With a few more years of experience you'd be a fearsome warrior."

"I don't care about your stupid wars. They're sickening."

Mugen points his staff at him.

Kaji closes his eyes and waits for it…

…

And he keeps waiting.

This feels familiar…

He opens his eyes, and sees Mugen has taken out his helmet, revealing his white hair and scarred, aged face.

"You are Kaji, correct?"

Hesitantly, he nods.

"The one my daughter has told me so much about."

"So instead of a quick death, you want torture me for 'poisoning' her mind."

A slow shake of his head. "I'm willing to make a compromise."

"Fuck you! That's my compromise. You think I'm gonna trust a word a war addict like you says?"

"I may be a war addict. However, I'm also a father."

A father…

I guess not a single one of them is perfect. All have to be flawed in one way or another. But at the end of the day… they're also…

Kaji sighs. "I'm listening."

"You and my daughter are in love, correct?"

A nod.

"I don't want to ruin her life, so I'm willing to spare you and leave your island, on two conditions. First, you'll come with us and make sure my daughter doesn't try to oppose me ever again. She doesn't need to become a warrior, I just want her to be home when I come back from my battles."

"You want her to be a prop!"

"She can be whatever she wants, as long as she doesn't try to stop me anymore."

"And what's your other condition?"

"Break your metal arm, and convince Hoshina to live without one of her legs. I don't want to make your lives hard, but I need a guarantee that you won't be able to fight me, so I'm only asking for one limb from each."

This offer…

Kaji feels inclined to accept it.

His only other option is to die, and break his vow.

Hoshina's pain would be unimaginable.

He doesn't want that for her.

And he doesn't want to die.

As he's thinking about his response…

A sound.

Propulsion boots.

Then a scream.

"Father!"

Hoshina's voice.

The sound gets closer, until she appears at the other end of the corridor.

"Stop!" Tell me he's not dead, please!" His voice is cracking. Kaji can see Mugen's eyes tremble at the sound.

Hoshina dashes through the corridor, leaving tears behind.

And once she reaches Kaji, she hugs him so tightly he can't breathe.

Kaji feels his shoulder get damp, as well as his face.

For a few minutes, nothing else matters except this embrace. The whole rest of the world could end and he wouldn't care.

༻──⋆༺𓆩⋆𓆪༻⋆──༺

He's alive.

By the gods he's alive.

She's so relieved her feet weaken.

As the trembling of her body subsides, and her heartbeat slows, she releases him little by little, and wipes her face.

Her hand holding his, she turns towards Mugen.

"Father, let's stop this madness. More than a dozen people have died just outside of this place. Every single one of them had a family, like you, me, and Kaji."

"That's precisely why, if we stop, their deaths would have been in vain."

His voice is firm, yet his expression contradicts it. There's hope.

The father might overcome the warrior.

"Mom and Jogi agree with me. They've also had enough. It's thanks to them that I'm here."

A stutter. "H-how? I've done everything in my power to teach you two, to prevent you from breaking like her. I did it for your sake, so you wouldn't suffer like my wife."

He takes a step back. "So this is all the result of my mistakes. I've been too lenient."

"Your duty was never to decide what I have to be. You should have instead helped me figure it out myself, like grandpa tried…"

The pieces of armor around his neck move, putting his helmet back on. He's trying to hide his face, but there's an opening, a breach that shows one of his eyes.

Have his eyes always looked so… empty?

She used to think of them as the cold, unwavering gaze of a veteran.

But now… they look like they're longing for a way to fill the void in themselves.

Why does he think the deaths of countless people will fill such a void?

"Father, you don't need to be alone anymore. You can show weakness. It won't make you lesser, I promise."

"It's no longer a matter of whether I'm weak or not. I've killed way too many. Just a minute ago I murdered Kaji's companions with my own hands."

"I've also killed a lot." Kaji says. "I lost count of the number, and I no longer remember all the faces. It's a terrible sensation, but what I fear more is losing that feeling, growing numb to it."

Mugen covers his eye with his hand, and points them with the staff.

"Enough. Kaji, do you accept my offer, or not?"

"Offer? What does he mean?"

"He's willing to spare us both if we agree to not interfere anymore."

…

A few minutes earlier…

Hoshina would've been willing to accept such an offer.

But now…

"Kaji, would you be able to live happily if we accepted?"

"That… depends… would you?"

"... No, I wouldn't. I can't accept it knowing the price is the happiness of many others who've done nothing to deserve it."

"Then," Kaji looks at Mugen, "you know my answer."

"You can't win." Mugen says.

"We know." Hoshina tightens the grab on Kaji's hand, and with the other, takes out a blade, Fuhai's. "But we made a vow. Death will not do us apart."

Kaji takes out his cane. Both stare at the Arc Warrior. Both are ready to lunge at him the moment he presses the trigger.

Both are ready…

To kill my father, or die together…

…

…

The staff drops on the ground.

Mugen falls to his knees.

Head low.

A single, translucent drop falls.

Then, a shaky, low voice.

"You've surpassed me, Hoshina. I'm proud of you."