Cedar Sweep 失われた

ishaku is dead. why did it sound so simple? like that statement held no meaning and it was just something normal? he didn’t want to believe it. his father was a strong man. someone who’d never just die like that. issun admired him, he always did. even when he was a leach in his younger years, ishaku still saw potential in him. and now look at him, trying to create something in his father’s likeness. he wanted to be just like him. in a perfect world his father would have seen how much he’d grown. “i’m proud of you son.” that’s what he’d say. nothing could be more fulfilling than that. but now that dream came crumbling down. with just three words. ishaku is dead.

issun could barely keep up with the exchange anymore. words and phrases played over white noise. jōnetsu. nauseating grief weighed him down. kyōso. his breathing labored. missing. ears flattened atop his crown. destroyed. his head swung down.

he would’ve blacked out right then and there if it were not for minori’s support. her touch sent life into the broken man. right, he needed to pull through this. a time for mourning would come later, he needed to focus on the current situation.

“i-i’m...” come on. just get through this. “we haven’t seen them.” there was a long pause before he blurted something out. “but we’ll help you find them.”

poncle woods was gone. his family was gone. his father was gone. his home, his childhood, destroyed just like that. all that was left was the old tōtsotsu-sha and her missing successors. “we’ll help you,” he repeated. “the odds of finding them will be much better with more numbers. all i ask is that you stay here with us.” issun looked into her firey glare. “you are a strong warrior, i know this. but you can’t do this alone.”