Truth and Reconciliation

That morning, the sun rose a crimson red, illuminating the sky and clouds. The result was hot pink pink clouds drifting through the light blue sky. Its beauty was incredible, even haiku worthy. Unfortunately, the resident master of haikus had more important things to worry about.

Takada exited the grave bearing Saiken’s name carrying Zashi on his back.

“Are you okay, Maki?”

“I’m fine,” she said flatly. He looked at her and frowned.

I’m sorry, he thought. I really am…

Her eyes were always a dull red, but now they seemed even duller than before. Only when she talked with Saiken did her eyes sparkle—like a pair of gorgeous rubies.

Now, it was as if any life remaining inside her died. Like she was merely an empty shell, just walking, like a psycho.

“Let’s head back to the mansion,” he said.

They walked there in silence. The crunching and clacking of their footsteps echoed off the stone pavement sounding louder than normal.

When they arrived, she opened the door and he brought Zashi to her room, laying her in her bed.

He gently brushed her hair away from her eyes and kissed her on the forehead.

“Get some rest…”

He then started to leave the mansion when Maki tugged at his shirt.

“I’m going to stay here…” she said. “I just want… to be left alone for a while.”

There were so many things he wished to say. But he simply nodded and headed to meet with Iguchi.

* * *

“What do you want?” Iguchi asked. “Are the girls safe?”

Takada nodded. “They’re in the mansion right now.”

His older brother sat on a small pile of specter corpses that were slowly disintegrating. Of course, Iguchi had his mask on, as always, and he sounded annoyed and irritated.

Now’s the time to tell him.

“Brother? I have something to tell you.”

Iguchi looked up at him, most likely making a face of disgust.

“What is it? You’d better not be wasting my time.”

Takada found a spot on the ground that wasn’t too bloody and sat down.

“I’d like to go ahead and marry Iome. I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused before.”

Suddenly, his brother pulled his mask off his face and stared blankly at him. They stared deeply into each other’s eyes, then they blinked a few times. As if snapping back to reality, Iguchi frantically put the mask back on and looked around to make sure no one saw his face.

When he judged it all clear, he sighed.

“And what brought this change of heart on? Was it lust or something?”

What?

“Are you crazy?!” Takada shouted. “Just how poorly do you think of me?”

“Well, that’s not completely farfetched to believe. It is part of the reason you changed your mind, is it not?”

“Well… Yeah, but…” he stammered. “That’s not anywhere close to the main reason!”

“Okay… Then what is it?”

He looked at his palm, flexing his fingers a few times.

“I guess I realized something important,” he said in a softer tone. “I didn’t want to ruin her life by being a bad husband. Since I’m an assassin, I didn’t want to pay for her food and clothing with money stained in blood.”

He raised his hand up to the sky, still looking at it.

“I’m not a good person, and I didn’t want someone innocent like her to suffer with someone like me.”

“Okay,” Iguchi replied. “So that’s why you thought running away would fix things?”

Takada almost shot a remark back, but he took a deep breath.

The sky is truly wonderful this morning.

“In truth, I didn’t think about how she felt about the matter. She gave up her dream for me… I feel like the least I owe her is to give her the life she dreams of now.”

He stood up, closing his fist and placing it to his chest.

“So I wish to see her and set things straight!”

Iguchi stood up and stepped towards him.

“Takada, we may be half brothers,” he said, placing his hand on Takada’s shoulders, “but we’re still family. In this, I support you all the way.”

Both brothers smiled. He didn’t need to take the mask off to know.

“I’ll stay here and begin with cleanup—this village didn’t escape completely unscathed.”

“Okay. I’ll be off then! Wish me luck!”

* * *

Takada knocked on the door of the last family from the Tsurana clan to stay in their village. Before he walked up, he’d straightened out his appearance as much as he could, looking at his reflection in one of the koi ponds.

The door slowly slid open, and a dull eye peeked out. It looked devoid of life, just like Maki’s.

“Takada? Is that you?” the voice asked from behind the door. It was a soft voice, but it sounded a little hoarse and strained.

How much did she cry? Oh… I feel awful.

“Yes. I came to talk to you.”

“...”

I feel like running away.

“I bet you’re here to gloat about a new woman, aren’t you?”

“N-no! Not at all! I came just to see you!” he panicked.

He waved his hands wildly despite being innocent, and her eye narrowed at him.

“Please, just hear me out!”

There was silence for a long moment. Who knew how long it lasted—all he knew was that it was awkward and uncomfortable.

I could run right now. It’s not too late…

His heart was beating so loud, he was sure she could hear it.

“Iome,” he said, cutting through the silence. “You don’t have to let me in. I’d just like to tell you that if you’d be willing to forgive me, I wish to marry you.”

At first she pulled the door open a little wider and stared at him. Then her eyes started to tear up.

“That’s awfully cruel of you to do! This isn’t funny!” she cried. “Coming the day after you void our engagement just to come and toy with my heart!”

Yeah… I know. I’m a scumbag.

“I swear I mean it,” he declared. “In fact, I regret ever hurting your feelings. If taking my life right here and now is enough to prove my conviction, then I shall do so.”

He slowly pulled his katana from its sheath, pointing it up to the sky.

“Wait—What are you doing?” she blurted. “Stop!”

The door flew open all the way. He brought it close to his throat and took a deep breath.

I need to do this. I need to redeem myself!

“Okay! You’ve made your point!” she shouted. “You don’t have to do this!”

He winced as he brought it even closer, blood starting to seep from his neck.

Iome tackled him before he could go further.

“Why don’t you ever listen to me?! I already told you I’d hear you out!”

She pulled out her handkerchief from her kimono and placed it on his neck.

“Honestly, if it weren’t for me, you’d probably have killed yourself by now!” she pouted.

They both stood up and dusted off.

“I’m sorry for trying to decide if I was the right one for you by myself,” he handed back her cloth.

Some life returned to her eyes, along with a faint smile.

“Here, come inside. Let’s talk about it over breakfast.”

He returned the smile.

“Yes, that’d be lovely.”

She stepped inside the house and took off her shoes. Before he entered, he looked at the sky one more time. It now was a beautiful scarlet-swirled vermillion, decorated with golden clouds.

You know, it truly is, a wonderful day.

“Are you coming?” she asked. “My darling?”

“Here I come!”

Of course! This is the perfect haiku!

“A pink sky of love. Your happiness, a treasure. My heart longs for thee.”

—The End

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Thank you so much for reading Psychophage 0: Cold-Blooded Assassin!

I hope you enjoyed Takada’s story, and I’d really appreciate it if you left a review! If you’d like to share your thoughts about the story, I’d be more than happy to read them and reply. Whether you loved it, hated it, or just have something you’d like to talk about, I’d love to hear from you!

And if you’d like to see where the story continues, please check out the main series, Psychophage: Volume 1, here on Honeyfeed!

Thank you again for reading!