The world was quiet.
Unmoving.
Keyuzu's eyes fluttered open. Her reflection staring back at her from the blood.
Her head veered up. Side to side. But no matter where she looked her eyes couldn't escape the bodies.
Men she had never known. Men who hunted her. Women and children she had never seen.
Their faces frozen in time. Twisted and contorted in agony. Eyes bloodshot.
Her breathing was shallow. Hands trembling against the ground.
Showered in blood that was not her own. Her swords glimmering red in the light beside her.
The blade is slick. Appearing sharper than ever.
For a long time she did not move.
The wind whispered as it moved past her. Brushing against her face on its journey through the sky.
Slowly she pushed force from her hands. Forcing herself to stand. Taking her sword with her.
She turned to the gates and slowly began to walk.
Each step trampling another body. Each step feels harder to make than the last.
She looked down at the remains.
A child, arms removed fully from its torso. Dead next to a doll.
A mother reaching out.
Her breath quivered. Lips parted slightly yet not making a sound.
Never kill when it is not necessary.
Ryouma's voice drifted through her thoughts. Sounding as gentle as it did when he was alive.
To take a life is to give up a piece of your own.
Her eyes dimmed slightly as she treaded out of the gates.
"I… I lost it all."
Her voice came out as a meek whisper.
"I killed them all. I-I'm not even human."
Her eyes turned up as she saw a curling pillar of smoke.
Screams emanating from another village in the distance.
She ran. Despite her own exhaustion
If I save them. M-maybe I can atone right? Ryouma said he atoned by saving me. Right?
She wasn't even sure of her own thoughts.
She reached the village. Bandits tore through the streets, stealing from every person and every house.
Keyuzu drew her sword.
They never stood a chance.
Every swing drew blood. Every swing forced the final breath from one of the bandits.
One man dropped to his knees before Keyuzu had a chance to cut him down. Begging for his life.
Looking upon the blood on the man's hands from beating somebody just before she didn't give mercy.
When it was over the air felt still again. The villagers watched as she stood in the centre, wiping the blood of her blade and sheathing it once more.
Fearful whispers ran around the village.
"She's a monster"
"She's the one that killed all those men last night."
"Apparently she killed the whole village that's just west of here.
Keyuzu's hands trembled slightly as she turned. Trying to find somebody that would actually look at her.
"I-I wanted to help."
Nobody answered
"I-I saved you from the bandits…"
A soft padder of footsteps rushed up behind her.
Then. a sharp pain.
She gasped. Looking down at her chest.
A small blade. Buried inside her. Going clean though her back to her front.
Blood dripped down the cloak. Bright red against the white and brown fabric.
She turned. A child stood there. No taller than her mid section.
He was trembling. Tears streaking their face.
Keyuzu recognised him. It was a boy from the village she slaughtered last night.
He must have escaped before I came back and ran here.
They kid stumbled back. Falling to the floor.
"I-I had too…"
His voice shaking
"Y-Your a monster, y-you killed my mommy…"
Keyuzu smiled faintly. Reaching out and pulling the boy close into a fragile embrace.
"It's alright."
Her voice grew weaker.
"I had It coming didn't I?"
She removed the knife from her chest and let it clatter to the floor as she stood.
She limped to the gates. Hand pressed over the wound. Not looking back.
After a few minutes of agony while walking she found a riverbed. The river gently flows downstream.
She knelt down by the bank. Her reflection shimmering in the ripples of the water.
Her face was pale. Her eyes are soft and empty.
"Ryouma. Sensei."
She whispered. Unable to manage anymore.
"You were right."
The only time humanity is equal is in death.
Her vision blurred slightly. The pain fading
"I… I think I understand you now."
She looked up. The sky was clear aside from the morning sun. A vast blue stretching on forever.
Her lips curved into a faint smile. Eyes slowly closing for the final time. The last breath leaving her throat.
In death you were no longer a murderer Sensei. Just a father.
In death I am no longer a cursed child. Maybe I have the right to just call myself a girl.
She fell forward.
The river carried her away. Body and blood pulled down the stream. Dissolving into the current.
Her burden was lifted.
In death, she was finally human again.