Chapter 59: Fireside Shadows
The forest at night was a world of its own—cool and damp, filled with the soft murmurs of insects and distant leaves sighing in the breeze. Moonlight slipped through the canopy in thin, trembling beams. A small fire crackled at the center of their makeshift camp. Its light danced over Kenshiro's motionless face, casting long shadows under his eyes.
He hadn't spoken in a while.
Kiyoshi stepped over a loose root, glanced around to make sure the others were asleep, then slowly crouched beside him, careful not to startle him.
Kiyoshi says quietly, "You're thinking hard for a guy with no alcohol in him."
Kenshiro's lips twitched at that.
"You get old enough… you learn to drink without the bottle."
Kiyoshi gave a small, dry laugh, then looked into the fire with him.
A silence settled between them, not uncomfortable, but heavy. The flames popped gently, sending little sparks upward like fleeting memories.
"That guy earlier. Renji. The way you looked at him… I've only seen that look in people facing their worst regrets."
Kenshiro didn't answer at first. He exhaled slowly through his nose, like the weight of the years was leaving with that breath.
Then, softly: "We were on the same team. Me. Renji. And Aoi."
Kiyoshi, glancing at him,"Aoi?"
Kenshiro, his voice distant,"She was... our heart. Smiled even when she was bleeding. Called me a pessimist. Called Renji a storm."
A long pause.
"Our mission was recon. Quiet in, quiet out. A compound near the Rain border. Suspected supply route. Intel only."
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"We leave. Now. That's an order," Renji said, his voice cold, cutting through the roar of the storm around them.
Kenshiro didn't move. His fists were clenched, and his voice cracked when he finally spoke. "She'll die."
"She knew what this was," Renji replied, not even looking at him. "She made her choice."
Thunder rumbled overhead, low and distant. Flames licked the broken earth, painting the sky in orange and red. The air reeked of smoke and betrayal.
Aoi, crouched behind a collapsed wall, pushed herself up with trembling arms. Blood soaked her side, but she smiled anyway—soft, tired, but real. Her eyes found Kenshiro's through the firelight.
"It's okay, Ken," she said, her voice almost lost to the wind. "Someone's gotta carry the story home."
She tried to laugh, but it caught in her throat, brittle and choked.
"You and Renji…" Her gaze drifted briefly toward the man who still stood with his back turned. "You were always my team. Always."
Kenshiro's hands shook at his sides.
"I used to think he was the warm one," Aoi went on, eyes fixed on Renji now. "Like sunlight. Gentle. Safe." Her voice faltered, then steadied with a bitter edge. "But it was just a mask. A calm face hiding something cold. Something that never planned to stay."
She looked back to Kenshiro. This time, her gaze was steady. Fierce.
"But you—you were stubborn. You felt things. You believed in something more." Her voice grew softer. "So believe this too. That I'm choosing this."
"Aoi…" Kenshiro's voice barely made it past his lips.
She didn't wait for him to finish. Her smile never faded as she turned away, vanishing into the firestorm—her silhouette swallowed by smoke and flame, like an ember caught in the wind.
He dropped to his knees.
The rain came too late. It always did.
Back at the fire, Kenshiro rubbed a hand across his face. His voice was rough, almost hoarse.
"We waited three days for her. Even after Renji's report. I… kept thinking maybe she crawled away. Maybe she'd be late. She was always late."
"She never came back?" Kiyoshi asks.
Kenshiro shook his head slowly.
"Renji was promoted. Said her loss was unfortunate, but acceptable. 'Clean trade-off,' he called it. For a scroll."
"Did it matter? The scroll?"
Kenshiro laughed bitterly. "It was a decoy."
Kiyoshi's fingers curled into fists.
"And he still got promoted?"
"That's how the system works sometimes. Glory hides rot."
The firelight flickered, and Kenshiro's face softened, remembering.
"She used to hum when she cooked. Said if you hum, you never burn the rice."
"You ever hum?"
"I burn everything." Kenshiro said with a small smile.
Kiyoshi chuckled faintly. Then after a pause: "Thanks for telling me."
Kenshiro looked at him, then back at the fire.
"You're my student. You'll see the fire one day. Better you know where the burns come from."
They sat in silence a while longer. The fire cracked gently. The night watched on.
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