Yumi was outside of Susanoo's home. His home is invaded by soldiers. And she gets ready to fight. "Where is he?" She calls. The soldiers getting ready to fight back.
"Leave her alone." Susanoo was on the roof, commanding the men to let her pass.
She walks forward. Looking around. The men clearing a path as she walks forward, staring Susanoo down.
She finally got closer, "You lied to me!" She yelled.
"…" Susanoo got up. And he flew into the sky. "You don't understand, Yumi."
"What is there to understand!? You gave me hope! Responsibility! Why couldn't you do that to everyone else! I sacrificed everything." She gritted her teeth.
"And I did too. And everything was for a lost cost." Susanoo. "Look at us. Nobody wants to look at us."
"That's not the point. What happened to your son, it wasn't your fault." Yumi softened for a moment. "You can't win if you lose."
"I never won. But I cannot lose myself because I want to save everyone else."
"That's called responsibility. Take it." Yumi pointed her Katana at him. "You're not alone. We can still win this war."
"No… we cannot." He spun his polearm. Pointing it at Yumi.
Yumi took a deep breathe as she realized the events that are coming. "You were stronger than me." She got into stance. Her Katana over her head, the light shining over her eyes.
"And I still am!" He flies down and swings his polearm. And Yumi gets ready to block.
They clash weapons, going for thunder this time. But she's in a disadvantage. However, their thunder splits in half and hits the crowd of soldiers.
They push each other back. Yumi's on the attack, trying to find an opening. She parries susanoo's swing. Threatening to hit him but he tries to hit her with the back point. And his blade infuses with lightning as he spins it around and tries to hit Yumi. But Yumi vaults over him with a flip.
He goes for her chin. But she leans back, and falls back. He goes for multiple stabs. All that she dodges one way or another and she acrobatically gets up and kicks him back. He stumbles back but retaliates with a stab. One she side steps. And lands a deep slash into his side.
He hops back. And suddenly, rain came pouring down. Hard. Neither one wanted to harm each other. So they stood in stance.
"You're willing to fight me, but not the enemy." She narrowed her eyes. "It shows you're willing to fight."
"I do not want to fight you, Yumi." Susanoo clenched his fists on his weapon.
"You promised to help me!" Yumi yelled. Getting out of stance. Her fists clenched.
"My promise is to myself!" The rain freezes. Just dots on the sky. Yumi sheathes and unsheathes unleashes lightning, she floats into the sky as she launches lightning attack after lightning attack.
Susanoo maneuvers his polearm to dodge the attacks. Spinning around him so fast it's like a shield. Yumi finally appears and Susanoo jumps on her, sending both to the sky.
He kicks her forward. Making her crash into the water droplets. It's almost like hitting glass. She gets hit down. With the pole of the pole arm. Bouncing off and hit again as he swings it like a bat.
However she recovers and lands on the water droplets. And jumps off and does a spinning attack, with enough strength to push him down.
Susanoo lands on the as he tries to catch Yumi off guard trying to stab her with the back hand of the polearm as she dives down to attack him. But she does a backflip to narrowly dodge it. HandSpringing back.
He swings his polearm to hit her but she parries with a spin with long range. And he does the other side but she parries with another spin.
He stands the pole straight as he swings horizontally around in a sweeping motion. Yumi knee slides to dodge. But Susanoo's on her, he kicks with both feet which she narrowly dodges. She flips over him as she tries to kick him back but they go feet for feet.
She lands swiftly with a twist before she throws three Kunai which are blocked by his polearm but she slams a smoke bomb to have him guessing where she's coming. But he's not even phased as he picks up the smoke and turns it into a cloud that strikes down where Yumi is supposed to be. But she's actually behind. Attacking at the same time as the lightning. But the attack doesn't land.
Turns out what she saw was not real. He's standing back. Stepping backwards. "You do not know how to utilize thunder. Even as an assassin."
Yumi circled him, her steps deliberate, eyes locked on his. "And you've forgotten that burden is what makes us human."
"There's people that still look up to you. Your sacrifices will be rewarded— help me save them." She lowered her guard. While Susanoo's tightened.
"I haven't been rewarded in a long time." Thunder struck with Susanoo's words.
"That can still change…!" Yumi struck thunder back.
They clashed again. But this time, Yumi stabbed him in the leg. Making him grunt. And she takes him off balance. And he tries to go for her chest. And launches her into the sky with a lightning strike that takes the air from her throat.
And strikes her back down. He gets on her back and grabs her by the head down. And he raised his hand with his polearm to stab her through the head.
She closed her eyes right before contact and yelled, "This has to stop!" Unexpectedly, Susanoo's polearm doesn't land. It goes through her. And Yumi immediately swings upward on his chest as she digs into it and slashes upward with lightning that blasts him back into his dojo.
He pants as he immediately tries to get up. But his arm is dislocated. He groans in pain as he locates and goes to grab his polearm.
But Yumi grabs it first. Making Susanoo gasp. She was just outside. She slid down her mask.
He looks down and pants. His eyes only looking at her Katana. "If you kill me, maybe they'll finally see your strength. But it won't matter — they'll all be gone by dawn."
She only stared him down. And grabbed his polearm. And wiped the blood of her Katana on the part where his weapon had his nickname. "That dawn will never happen. But the Aragami is dead." She lowered her Katana. "I hope the family man lives on, and leaves this island. I don't want to see you near here again, or else."
He looks eyes wide at her. His gaze softened at her mercy.
She threw away his weapon to the side. Not even looking at it.
Susanoo took off his scarf-cape slowly, and introduced it to her gaze. "Please, take it."
"I will never, be the same man."
Behind Yumi. Something slams into the ground, and she snaps back.
Fujin was the meteor slammed into the ground. "Yumi, they need your help."
And shamelessly. Susanoo launches into the sky, breaking through the ceiling. She snaps back again to look at the ceiling with a hole in the roof. And she closes her lips tightly. And looks back. "Who?"
The two are in the sky. Obviously Yumi can't fly, so she's behind held like a doll alongside Fujin. Yumi awkwardly looks forward, and Fujin looks determined. "Thanks to Sugi, I am not your enemy."
"You pulled your leg for us. I appreciate that." Yumi nods.
"Hmph. My brother would've done the same, if he saw how our sister is behaving."
She blinks. "…Thanks to her, Tsukuyomi is dead." She crosses her arms. Looking down at the clouds.
Fujin nodded. "Amaterasu's main goal is complete. The island will be fully taken over, and anyone who rejects her new empire, her era of dictatorship, will die."
"Where are they? My friends?" Yumi looked over at him.
"They're fighting the soldiers that were sent to clean the castle before building it."
"They don't understand, This is Tsukinoshima, moon island, not sun island." Yumi furrowed her eyebrows
"Then we'll spread word… no matter what the cost." He blasts through the air.
Meanwhile, Sugi was fighting multiple men. She spun the chain of the Kusarigama of the spike ball. Hitting and injuring multiple men as she spun. The last man standing stumbled for a moment before he got a sickle to the collarbone and is yanked by it as Yumi spins and stabs him in the back of the neck.
"It's too many men." She gritted her teeth.
Sugi heard Thunder coming from miles away. Striking in a row as it came down.
And it strikes one of the generals who only looked back to see the thunder coming to him.
It's an explosion of dust. And Sugi was cheesing despite her bloodiness. "It took a minute."
Yumi with Susanoo's scarf was on one knee with her sword. In a pose where she struck the general. Her cape moving with the same intent as her enemies: to escape.
She put on her mask. And got up with the generals head.
"Run, you dogs! Drop dead or alive!" The soldiers all took a step back as she threw their generals head off.
And they were scared for one that tried to fight whimpering. And he swung his sword down. But Yumi popped her sword up to send his guard flying to the sky as she slashed his throat open. So hard that the wind blew the enemies to fall on their back. And were sent flying.
Yumi stares in front of her. And Fujin lands near her.
"The part they went flying was me, by the way." He says with his hands on his hips. And Yumi looked at him and at the sky. "Not a doubt about it."
"Yumi!" Sugi hugged tightly Yumi. And Yumi hugged back. "You're safe."
Yumi smiled lightly. Putting her hands on her shoulders.
Until she slaps her hat down. "Not yet, We're still in a war." And walked away. "A-Yumi!" Sugi fixes her hat and dashes over to Yumi and the others.
Yoshio spoke first. "Good to see you, Tachibana."
"You too." Yumi bowed her head.
"We should get out of here, before more soldiers come to us."
"I heard either of beast or men are in Amaterasu castle."
Yoshio and Nuraihyon looked at Yumi. And then at each other.
At Amaterasu castle…
Locks open as both Yokai and Ronin were stuck together. And they were finally free.
They took a moment to laugh and cheer. Hell, one of the Ronin lifted Sugi and laughed in Joy. Sugi squealed and giggled loudly. "Guys—!"
Even Nuraihyon and his Yokai, Taka and the Jorogumo.
Yumi watched with a tender look on her face. Everyone was family with their own. Yumi had her arms crossed. Frosty wind blowing her hair and cape.
She tightened her lips. And she reached for the Katana on her back. Her uncles Katana.
She envisioned that he was beside her. While she had both his Katana and hidden blade in both sides.
"Face your enemy as you face the sun— without the shadow." She felt his touch on her shoulder. The one with the dragon on it and the side of the Katana. And she flinched. But took a deep breath. She remembered,
She put a hand on the dragon on her shoulder. "I promised you a deal, Ryujin."
Suddenly, it snapped off. Surprising her. But she catched it. And inspected it. "How did that happen..?"
She saw a opening like a whistle. And that's where she was supposed to blow to let Ryujin free. "That's where you come out, huh?"
Sugi comes over to her. "Everything's looking good, right?" She crossed her arms too.
"…Right." She looked down at the dragon.
"What is that?" Sugi looked down at the dragon head. "Is it not part of your armor?"
She clarified. "There's a lot of things I don't know about this armor.."
"But I'm most concerned about this war." And admits.
Sugi looked at her with loving concern. "How come? Are you not ready?"
"…" Yumi couldn't respond. Her eyes were off. "Hmph."
"I'm sorry, come to me when are plan is ready for war." She whistled for her horse and she snatched away with her horse. Sugi reaching for her hand. "Wait— Yumi!" But she was already off.
"Faster, horse!"
Sugi was scared for her friend. And Yoshio came to Sugi. "Was that her?"
She didn't respond. But her face said everything. "I'm going after her." She called for her own horse. And dashes for her.
The night had long passed. Only the moon dared to remain.
Wind whispered through the graves — hundreds of stone markers bowing beneath the mist. Yumi stood alone before one, her cloak clinging wet from the rain that had refused to dry.
Her father's name was etched in kanji, worn but unforgotten. Haruto Tachibana.
She kneeled slowly, her knees sinking into the damp earth. The dragon crest on her shoulder was gone — replaced by the faint burn of its absence.
"…Father." Her voice broke. "I'm sorry I came back."
A hollow breath escaped her lips, white in the cold air.
"I thought I could avenge you, save the island. The island you would die for. That maybe, I would live up to your name. Bring your hope. Save people with pride. And I would mean something. "
Her hand brushed the engraved letters, tracing the grooves as if they might speak back.
"But I saw a man lose everything — like me. his faith, his family, himself. And I thought I was different."
Her voice trembled. "But what if I'm not?"
The trees shifted. Somewhere in the distance, thunder murmured — faint, but familiar.
Yumi looked up at the sound. "You always said you'd fight for a beautiful tomorrow." She smiled faintly. "But what if it's ugly Not worth living for?"
She removed her mask and placed it gently at the base of the grave.
"They think I'm a monster. Not someone that soars over them. Like you. I don't know if I'm strong, or if I'm just too scared to stop."
The wind picked up again — brushing her hair across her face.
"I wish you could tell me what to do." She lowered her head. "I wish I didn't have to keep pretending I know. But I understand it's for the greater good. I just… can't let you go in vain.
Silence lingered — heavy, sacred.
Sugi slid the door open. Surprising Yumi.
"His death doesn't have to be in vain."
Yumi looked down at her knees. And Sugi joined her.
"I know how you feel. Doing things you don't want to. I didn't want to be a ronin slaughtering people to survive."
"And that's a sacrifice, sacrifices makes us stronger."
"Samurai say rules were made to understand and obey. If they truly have no meaning other then for comfort."
"And for that we must understand rules to break them. For a good purpose."
"Yumi, you're not breaking your code." She puts a hand on her shoulder. "You're bending it. It doesn't matter how you do it. You are saving them. And if they don't like it. They will still be grateful for the sacrifice you've done."
"Personally, I like a hero that stands with us and not over us."
Yumi looked eyes wide. And she sighed. And she couldn't help but get a hic of a chuckle. "You always knew what to say."
"The past can't hurt you, Yumi. Only if you let it. And now, you know what to do." Sugi smiled. And Yumi smiled back.
There was a small silence of understanding. But Sugi frowned, "Yumi?"
Yumi raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"I can't see you if you're not speaking. Say something." She pouted.
"I apologize. I'll be out right now." She nodded.
Sugi got up and walked and slid out. Then, softly, she stood. She put her hand on her lips. And then on the name of her father.
she whispered. "For you. For them. And for what's left."