>>5943598Miyako grins at you. “Yes! And I didn’t attack you then either, did I? I could have.”
“So we have Hihari, and Miyako, but who are you?”
“I’m Atsushi Ikeno.” He says simply. “Hihari is a codename, I don’t know who he actually is, and I never will since you ripped his face off. This is Miyako. She doesn’t have a last name, but she’s a daughter to me.”
“How did Izumi save your life?”
“She… In the Hidden Mist our graduation exam was to fight a comrade to the death. The fights were always between the closest friends possible, and nobody saw it coming until we were made to do it. She was my best friend, and I loved her. I knew I was dead; she was stronger than me and I couldn’t hurt her. We fought anyway. Eventually she had her sword to my throat. I gave up. I was fine with it. I remember her just standing over me, and I told her to finish it. Instead, she refused. That meant death. She was swarmed then. I got up to help her, so she cut me in the eye to put me back down. She fought hard, but eventually her own mother stabbed her in the back. I only won through technicality, and because she stopped me from committing treason. I’ll never forget her.”
“Why do you people have loyalty to Kirigakure!” You yell at him, enraged. “How the fuck could you go through something like that and not LEAVE?!”
“Nobody enjoyed it. The weak were culled, and the strong were driven by a sense of shared guilt to become even stronger. The shared bond for the survivors of that trauma was also intense. And just so you know, for examples like Izumi and that freak Momochi, the practice has been discontinued anyway. It’s over.”
“What, you think my sister was culled because she was weak?”
“No.” He says, tears welling up in his eyes. “What she did exhibited more strength than anything I’ve ever seen in my entire life. More strength than I’ll ever see again. She died for me... I’m sorry.” He sags down after that, tears streaming into the dirt. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
