The winds howled outside the mountain pass in Aizu. Icy gales danced like ghosts, rattling the pinewood shutters of the small hermitage where Ishikawa now lived — not by choice, but by exile.
The defeat had been total.
Jin Nomura's blade, Sizaka (死逆・しざか) — a black fang of rusted obsidian — had not only cleaved through Kurayami, it had shattered something deeper: Ishikawa's pride. He'd gone into the duel with justice on his lips and vengeance in his heart. He'd left bleeding, broken, and silenced.
And now, he knelt.
Days had passed since the Higanabana mercenaries dragged his battered body from the battlefield. Asaki, wounded herself, had watched over him, wordless. Ogi, the boy assassin, only muttered: "He's alive, but not here."
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Day 6 : Ghosts of Blood
Now Ishikawa stared at the broken half of Kurayami. The other blade, Kurasa, remained whole — but dormant, as if grieving its twin.
He gripped the hilt and slashed at the air.
A tremor passed through his arm. His form was imperfect. Unstable.
"Why did I fall?"
In the silence, the past answered.
From the shadows of the hut emerged phantoms — not real, not alive, but all too familiar. His brother, Tatsuhiro, stood first, smiling with the same calmness he'd worn the night he left for the last campaign.
"You were always the fastest," Tatsuhiro said, "but not the sharpest."
Behind him came Yumi — her throat still slit from the night the Black Guard burned Kalari village. Her eyes hollow.
"You said you would protect me."
And then… Nakajima. The Fiend of Aizu. His laughter echoed like steel dragged across stone.
"Your blade trembled. And so did your soul."
Ishikawa roared, slashing through the air, through smoke, through memory.
The illusions vanished.
But his breath was ragged. His body, heavy. His spirit… unsure.
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Day 9 : The Old Monk and the Mountain Kata
The door creaked open. Snow blew in. An old man entered, wrapped in layers of threadbare cloth, eyes milky with age. Yet something in his posture said: warrior.
"Still chasing ghosts, boy?"
Ishikawa turned.
"Who are you?"
"I am called Benkai. Once of the Sakanami Temple. Now, only bones and regret. The girl Asaki sent me."
Ishikawa bowed faintly. "I don't need a monk."
"You don't. You need a mirror."
Benkai dropped his staff and began to move.
Slow. Precise. He stepped through air as if he were dancing with snowflakes. His hands carved patterns, his feet never broke the frost. Then, without warning, he snapped into a stance — Hibashira no Kamae (火柱の構え) — and the aura around him shifted. The snow stopped falling inside the hut.
"What style is that?"
"Asura no Michi (修羅の道). Born in fire, meant for war. It was made to cut through demons. It can cut through men like Jin Nomura."
Ishikawa narrowed his eyes. "Teach me."
Benkai chuckled. "You're not ready."
"Then make me."
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Day 12 : Breath of the Asura - 修羅の息
For weeks, Ishikawa trained under Benkai.
Not in sword first — but in stillness. He learned to kneel in freezing water until his heartbeat matched the stream. He learned to strike pine trunks blindfolded, listening to the wind. He learned to breathe — not just in and out — but into his spine, into his spirit.
"Your blade moves before your breath," Benkai scolded. "You fight like a man drowning in memory. Shura no Iki begins when the past dies."
Ishikawa fell. Over and over. His muscles tore, his ribs screamed, but his soul… began to shift.
He meditated under waterfalls, carved kata into stone with broken blades, and faced illusions conjured from his own nightmares — all so he could finally unshackle himself from guilt, from loss.
And one morning, as dawn broke, he stood on the edge of a cliff. The wind stilled.
He drew both blades.
But not Kurayami.
The broken piece had been reforged.
The new blade was thinner. Swifter. Forged by the smith Yoshinobu in secret. Its name etched into the guard: Kuyōkagami (九曜鏡) — "Mirror of the Nine Stars."
He entered the stance.
Hibashira no Kamae.
A single breath.
And he moved.
A slash that created no sound — only silence. Snow split midair. Trees trembled. The world felt slower, and his spirit felt whole.
Benkai watched from afar. "So… the Shura no Iki is now yours."
Ishikawa sheathed the blade.
"I do not fear Sizaka now."
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Day 15 : Return to Fire
Word arrived that Jin Nomura had been seen in Aizu's Inner Ring, commanding soldiers under Kagutsuchi Kagoshima's banner. He hunted Asaki. Seeking revenge for his Vice-Captain Nakajima's death.
Ishikawa packed no words. Only his blades.
Before he left, Benkai gave him a scroll.
"Shikkiri (執切り) is not just rage. It is sorrow. Channel it wisely."
Ishikawa bowed. "Thank you, Sensei."
As he disappeared into the snow, the wind whispered.
"Now begins the path of Asura."
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To be continued