Soft breeze picked up a few wisps of Seiki's long black hair and toyed with them like a little child with a new game, dropping one and picking up another right after. His hakama and haori were billowing in the wind as he made his way up the hill, leaving the sakura gardens surrounding the residence behind, and step by step ascending to the top of a hill, infamous by its eerie calm. The Hill of Silence... Or, as it was known better among his highly practical relatives, who didn't dwell on the past and sentiment in more than some of their customs and celebrations, the burial site of the Adachi house. On terraces, hidden beneath the rose-colored blossoms, lay grave upon grave, one stone plate on another. They were evenly spaced and very orderly, portraying the same kind of strict law as almost all about the whole residence, and yet carried an air of sad elegance, a forgotten grace.
With long steps, he passed through the graves, and walked further towards the top of the hill. That was where the immediate family of the head of the house was always buried... His wife, children, brothers and sisters... He himself knew that one day, his own body will be laid down into a deeply-dug pit, and let to crumble till his bones become naught but ash. And he didn't worry about it, as he know he'd eagerly lay his life for a good cause any day, but never without a fight.
There it was. A smaller stone plate, at the end of one row. The path led on, but this grave was the last, right next to the graves of Daiki and Ichyio. He kept his head high as he slowed down and turned towards it, and his face remained stone-cold and hard like always, but his inside was being torn asunder. He slowly dropped to his knees, careful not to touch the grave, or smear mud over his clothes. His hands arose to his chest and his fingertips connected. The deep blue of his eyes disappeared behind his eyelids and long eyelashes as he narrowed them, bowing his head to the grave.
Kanami's grave.
Sister. I come again in the hope that one day I will be able to forgive myself, and in the plea for your forgiveness. In a hope that beyond the borders of this world, you are content. Kanami, forgive me that I wasn't strong enough to protect you... I promise you that the next time I draw my blade, I will give all there is inside me to protect those that need it. I feel unworthy of my title and of my blade that I was not capable of it back then. The punishment I receive for it is nothing short of fair, but I should have never allowed you to be punished for my mistakes, Kanami. Forgive me...
He bowed his head down. A solitary tear formed in his nearly closed eyes, and rolled down his lashes, dropping onto the stone where it shattered like a shard of broken glass.
Normally, Seiki wouldn't let something so weak as tears get over him. Even now, he felt anger growing within his chest like fire at allowing himself to cry, though it was no more but one tear. It was weak to succumb to emotions... And the stone-cold mask reappeared, concealing all that he let slide through its cracks before, whole again. Before an important hunt on a strong spirit, he couldn't afford getting overwhelmed by his emotions.
