Hayato dusted off his kimono and lifted a sack over his shoulder as he approached the large staircase leading from our camp on the mountain back to the road. "I'm heading into town to go get food."

Hayato reached into the coin purse attached to the cloth belt of his kimono and counted the pieces. Three men constantly walking could eat a lot of food, and food had only grown more expensive once Amaterasu went missing and the crops started dying. I stood from my seat next to the fire and spoke to Hayato. "I'll join you."

Hayato looked over at me, and after a moment of thought, unexpectedly put his foot down. "You need to rest for the trip ahead. Keep Anzen some company."

I looked over to Anzen, who was only just then waking up. He stretched his arms behind his back as he commented on Hayato's words. "You're leaving him with me?"

Hayato frowned. "Don't be like that. I'll only be gone for a little bit." and before Anzen could protest, Hayato raised his hand and started walking down the steps. "I'm leaving the horse with you two. Make sure he doesn't fall off the cliff and all that."

Anzen rolled his eyes at the humorous request as I shouted to Hayato as he left. "I make no promises!"

With a chuckle, Hayato descended out of sight, leaving only Anzen and I.

Anzen commented as he looked around the camp. Inspecting the familiar white black speckled horse hitched near the tents. "I'm guessing I'll be doing all of the work since you've got an excuse." He gestured to my leg. I don't know why Anzen always had to be so passive-aggressive towards me. I had no clue as to why there was some sort of tension between us.

With a grunt, I stood from my seat next to the dying fire. "No. I can help."

He nodded silently as he tightened the straps to his kimono, getting ready for work.

With a breath of the crisp spring air, I started my long and somewhat painful walk to the horse. On the way, I grabbed a lantern from beside the tents. The moon was its usual bright blue color, but the dense canopy of mountain trees kept us from seeing well. I unsheathed the blinds of the lantern, revealing the bright candle still lit inside, only brighter due to the magnifying glass windows of the lantern.

As I met the horse I put a hand on his back. Anzen followed me with a sack of what I assumed to be the last of the horse's food. He spoke as he reached into the bag and pulled out a bright red apple. "Usually he grazes, but we can't rely solely on that."

I nodded. "Oh no, I understand. I had a horse for quite some time this winter while I hunted for yokai." Anzen fed the apple to the speckled horse as I pat its weary back. That horse had carried our supplies, and most recently me, for days. It was good the animal had these two nights on the mountain to rest. "Do you know what his name is?"

Anzen raised his eyebrow at me for a moment, then answered. "I believe Hayato said his name was Ritsu. Hayato isn't very imaginative when it comes to naming animals." An honest answer? I was doing well apparently. In order to keep the conversation from turning silent, Anzen unexpectedly asked me a question. "Well... What did you name your horse when you were hunting yokai?"

I thought for a second. Anzen gave me an honest answer, so I would do the same. "I didn't name my horse anything. At the time, I didn't even want to become familiar with humans, let alone animals."

"I see..."

We continued feeding and checking the horseshoes before moving away. Everything concerning the horse was prepared for us to return to our journey the next morning.

As I started to turn away from the horse I noticed Anzen had already made his way across the camp. I followed him, curious as to where he was going.

Anzen stopped at an empty patch of grass, inspected it for a moment, then ducked behind one of the tents. Before I could question it, he returned with his own lantern in hand. He sat the lantern on one end of the clearing and gestured to the opposite side of said clearing. "Sit yours down there."

I obliged, questioning him as I sat my lantern in the grass, illuminating the area. "Why?"

Anzen stretched his arms behind his back, interlocking his fingers and pushing out. "Aside from walking, I haven't done any exercises or training since we all embarked on... Whatever this is."

"You're wanting to spar?"

"Yes."

"You use your fists while I use a sword. I'm not quite sure those two are compatible."

He shrugged. "Nothing will be lethal if you use your sword while it's still in its sheath. Come on, I want to see if the 'legendary swordsman' of old has any actual skill."

Was Anzen taunting me? Yes. Would I fall for that taunting? Maybe... "Fine. Although I still don't believe this is a very smart decision."

He stood on one side of the clearing while I slightly loosened the strap on my dark red and cotton kimono. Once the strap was loosened I took both my sword and sheath out and tightened it once more. "You know. I miss my silk kimono, yet it also wasn't the best for the work and fighting we're doing now, so it worked out for the best I suppose."

My katana was slightly more heavy than usual, but it wasn't a big enough hindrance to fret over. Anzen sighed. "Are you ready yet?"

Anzen began to approach me. I had noticed when we fought the Ember wielders before, Anzen was aggressive. With such a close range, it had to be a priority to get close to your opponent quickly.

He jumped forward and started closing the distance faster than expected. Within a moment he was close enough to swing at, but I reframed. His hands were open. Anzen had no intention to hit me, but rather to grab my sword and disarm me. I sidestepped on my good leg as Anzen tried to reach to my sword. I gave Anzen a small hit on the back with my sheathed sword to show that I had won in that encounter.

His breathing was loud and heavy. I knew Anzen wasn't fatigued so easily, but he was hot-headed and must not have liked having his moves read as they were.

Anzen quickly turned on his heels and squinted at me. I chewed on the long piece of grain I had plucked from the rice paddies earlier as we both planned on what to do next.

Anzen took a step forward, and with that step, he threw a punch. As he moved forward, I simply moved back a short step, being careful to take smaller steps to avoid overextending my hurt leg. I dodged the first punch without any surmountable effort and again with the second he quickly swung after that. Once he had finished his attack I replied with a swipe from my katana.

Anzen jumped backward as he saw me move my arm. He refused to lose after the first time, so he would wear himself out dodging instead of being hit even once. One hit and one close call was all that it took to put me in the position of the aggressor.

Patience gave me my opportunity, and I would make the most of it. I swung sideways at him, using that momentum to swing again, and again, causing Anzen to grow ever closer to the edge of the clearing while I was able to take leisurely steps forward, not even bothering my healing leg.

One of the unspoken rules of sparring is that if you get pushed out of the ring or whatever you had chosen as your spot to spar at, you lost. This most likely came to be because it kept the two sparring from running away or constantly evading. Or, perhaps the creator of this unspoken rule was just fond of sumo.

Either way, with Anzen constantly looking backward, it was safe to assume he knew he couldn't fall out of the clearing.

He was only a few steps from having to step out of the ring. He would either have to figure something out or lose, and I knew Anzen wouldn't let himself lose.

As I finished another swing, Anzen ducked down low and charged towards me. I assumed he was going to try and tackle me, so since my sword arm was already in the air I thought I would bring the pommel of the sword down on him. But instead of a simple tackle, he raised his arms and grabbed my sword hand.

Why would he be trying to disarm me when his primary concern should've been to get back in the center of the ring?

Soon, I had the answer to my questions. Once Anzen had a hold on my arm, he quickly spun around. With my arm over his shoulder, he stood to his full height again, pulling my arm as he went. And even though I was taller than him, he was able to take me off my feet, especially since there wasn't any way I could lean backward on my injured leg as a counterweight to his pulling. Soon after he gained control over me, he leaned forward, rolling me off his back.

The world seemed to summersault around me as I flew through the air, eventually landing on my back in the grass outside of the ring.

The blow to the back took my breath from me, so I gave myself a moment to recover and attempted to stand. "Clever..."

Rather than reaching out a hand to help me up, Anzen only paced. "Was that all you had to offer? Come on."

"I believe I'm satisfied with what we've done. You've won once, and so have I. Besides, my leg has started to ache and-"

Anzen raised his arms as he interrupted me. "Really? I don't know why I expected more, but I thought you would have at least been able to continue after one loss."

I sighed as I finally got onto my feet, feeling my leg, which had started to ache once I was thrown so roughly to the ground. "I have an injured leg, Anzen. I'll be more than happy to spar with you again in the future, but while I'm recovering I'll choose when I want to stop." Anzen was unhappy, as he seemed to be when he first heard that it was just going to be me and him that afternoon. I had enough beating around the bush, so I simply spoke honestly to him. "Why do you have to taunt me? One moment it seems as though we're friends, but the next you act so passive-aggressively towards me. Why must you constantly restrain yourself from liking me?"

Anzen's unhappy frown faded to a blank expression as he thought about what I said. Once he had formed the words in his mind, he spoke. "I'll answer your question with another. Is this entire journey only for your sake?" I raised my brow as Anzen continued. "We're traveling all the way to Mt.Fuji. To lady Amaterasu's palace. Not because of your concern for the world as we know it. Barely because of your concern for lady Amaterasu herself. It's because you want to feel better about yourself."

"Anzen, that's untrue... I loved Amaterasu more than the world itself, and it pains me every day to know that I left her. I know it's my mistake, and I am going partially to right that wrong. But not to clear my name, hell, not even to forgive myself or anything like that, but because even if it kills me, I will make sure Amaterasu is safe. That things are right again. As the one that caused things to turn to the shit that it is, it's my duty to put it back into place."

Anzen looked at me cross for what felt as though an eternity. Then he spoke something unexpected. "Do you think people can change?"

I had no clue as to what he meant, so I only replied with "What?"

"I'm not sure if I believe people can change from what they once were..." He paced for a few moments. "Hayato and I were orphans until we had met our teens. Taken in by the Shogun." He stopped his pacing once he had finally started to speak what was on his mind. "Hayato doesn't remember. He was frequently sick in our youth, but I do. I remember hearing about a legendary swordsman coming to the village we were begging in. One with magical powers. The second hand of the newly inaugurated Shogun and the one that protected Mt.Fuji from countless yokai before that. I met you... I begged you for food, money, anything. Or even just to be noticed by the man that Hayato and I heard so many stories of. I looked up to you, and what did you do when I actually saw you ride into town on your high horse?"

I put my hand on my forehead in shame. I was a disgraceful and dishonorable person in those few years that I worked under the Shogun. I left to hide in my shack for that reason, to hide from my consequences. "Anzen, I-"

Anzen continued. "You scoffed at my presence. You called me filthy to your samurai companions and commanded them to take me away so I would no longer bother you. They threw me back to the alley from where I came and I knew who you really were. And whenever I see your face I still feel the same disappointment I had on that day." He looked into my eyes for a second. Anzen never seemed like the type to cry, and he wasn't. But the way his frown twisted into a curl made me realize that if he were a different person, he would be.

I sighed. With my head held low, I slowly put my arm on Anzen's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Anzen. Sorry for what I did to you. Sorry for who I once was... I want to be who you once thought I was. I want to live up to who I once was, and then go beyond that." Anzen's frown had lessened. He had began to look into my eyes again, not in anger or disappointment, but in hope. Something I hadn't seen in those eyes from the day I met him. "Anzen, I want to be your friend."

My hand dropped from his shoulder as Anzen smiled and nodded. He had always acted so cynical, so sarcastic, but at that moment I was reminded that Anzen and Hayato were twins. They were the same age, and although it wasn't usually seen, they were very much alike in some ways. "Thank you, Kenshi..." After those brief words, Anzen turned away and continued his work like normal. I smiled and followed.

We spent a lot of the evening in silence. I didn't push Anzen beyond what he wanted to do. He was usually quiet, and I didn't want to take any steps back in our relationship.

We ate, tended to the horse, checked the rabbit traps we had set the day before, repaired our clothing and sharpened our blades. My sword, the dagger Anzen had hidden in his kimono, and then the knives we kept for skinning and cooking animals.

We set another fire so we would no longer have to use our lanterns in the moonlight and waited for Hayato's return.

Finally, Anzen sensed that Hayato wanted to open a portal. He manifested the foggy gate between two trees as the guides to hold it in place. But nothing seemed to come out.

Then, after a bit of wait, a monkey in a silky kimono emerged from the portal. A dirty and bruised Hayato followed soon after. Once a brief moment of silent contemplation was given, Hayato spoke a single question.

"Can we keep him?"