The day comes once again and kata make his way back to the palace and on his room, upon reaching there he doesn't find anyone inside, he hears laughs from the below floor and heads down, he search the place and after a while he finds everyone gathered around some tables eating together.
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Everyone turn their eyes on kata and he sits down in the corner of the table beside Nozomi eating rice and miso soup with the rest, observing the kid from the other side , at some point the kid drops the fork and starts crying, gozen quickly places her hand on the kids head asking "did your wound hurt?" "the girl shake her head affirmative with tears in her eyes" gozen then cleans them with her thumb and takes her fork saying" then i will help you eat, if you dont have a problem" the girl again shake her head and gozen helps her eat, after eating the food on the plate gozen asks "is this enough or do you want some more? " the girl shake her head again but horizmly this time and gozen leaves her fork getting up to take the kids plate, before going to leave it hina asks "gozen can you come here for a while?" gozen goes there and hina whispers at her ear "do you want me to take care of the child moreover im a mom and i knkw how to handle her" gozen whispers back "this kid probably lost his parents and cant remember anything,i want to give her the best things as long as she is here" hina smiling says"then i hope to succeed on that "thank you" and gozen leaves the dishes and with the small girl they leave the room, nozomi then looks at kata and both stare each other with nozomi saying " are ou alright? You haven't come inside the room all night" "I was just taking a walk that's all" Nozomi then turn his head back on the food "all right then" on the other side left from gozen Bohan talks with Uesugi and Takeda "before your father die, did he stated who is gonna be the next heritage to lead the divine warriors?" Takeda gently says "he said that with a little bit of practice and changes I can be a great leader" "then after we eat we will start your training" Uesugi asks "and what about me i also wanna train to be a leader" "im sorry uesugi but right now we have to help your brother first to lead the army in case of a serious situation " uesugi lower his eyes on his soup and says "i understand" slowly everyone leave and the noon came going in their posts or training, with kata taking a walk outside the palace, as he was hearing the wind passing him, he hears a scream of a woman in his ears coming from the other side of the palace, kata runs at the source of the sound finding gozen unconscious with the child being above her curving a worried face, kata runs at gozen pushing the child softly a bit further and place gozen with her back now facing the ground.
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Ista then tells to the child "what happened?" the child point her hand at gozen pelvic bones, kata tore a bit of her clothes to see an bloody abreasion on her skin with her skin be a little tore, kata shouts to the girl "run inside and tell someone to give you bandages and water" the girl runs inside and kata checks on gozen wound once again and she wakes up "gozen how you feel?" " im feeling dizzy but im sure it will pass, is sakura alright? "kata's eyes open wide" I mean the girl ""she is fine, arent you feeling any pain?" "no, nothing" "alright then that is a good sign" "of course" kata rise and give his hand at gozen "can you walk?" gozen takes his hand saying "yes" she gets up with her legs shaking but still holding "can you tell me what happened?" " Sakura was playing on a tree and a branch was going to hit her but I protect her with my body" "but you weren't close in the trees when I came " "she must tried to move me" "when she comes back I will help you with your wound and you have to rest" gozen face curved a smile "don't worry about me im fine" "no you need to rest, " "kata I said im fine" gozen almost faints again and kata grabs her from her shoulders immediately helping her standing "why are you pushing yourself so much?" "it's because of sakura" "does she have a problem? I can help her in your place" "no its just that whenever i leave her for a while she pulls out of her pocket a wooden doll and start crying" "then i can replace you until you be alright" "no you dont understand, every time others try to calm her they fail, only i can calm sakura and make her smile back" kata leaves a gently sigh "i understand" "thanks for your understanding kata" "by the way how did you learn her name?" " she cant talk, neither remember where her parent house is , i ask her if she likes this name and she smiled back to me" "she really have a special place for you in her heart" "i dont know, but i just want her to be happy as long as she is with me, to have someone to call family"that moment sakura comes back with bandages and water.
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She walks at them placing her hands above katas stomach with her head looking at the ground, kata place her hand on sakuras head and takes the bandages and water "good jon sakura" sakura still let her head down and gozen kneel infront of her face, placing her arms in her head "ylu feel that my wound is your fault?" sakura tilt her head even more down and her eyes filled with tears,gozen push her on her body, hugging her "dont you ever feel sorry about this,if you ever get hurt i wouldn't be able to forgive myself" "sakura hugs her back and her tears stop"you are a good girl sakura always remember that" gozen leaves sakura from her hug and takes the water from kata drinking half of the bottle "you seem to be well gozen" "yes i sure am" "im glad that i hear that,now excuse me i have to leave" "kata wait" kata stops walking looking at gozen full of question"what is it gozen?" "these 2 days you walk alone or you go somewhere isolated from the people, is everything alright?" "yes" gozen palm touch her chest "you know i also miss toyotomi you and him are the ones who came to the hill that day, so please dont do anything stupid, we still need you" kata drops a small smile "i will never leave you and i will let anyone else die" "i dont want your protection, i can do that myself, i just need to know that you will always take care of yourself" kata replied with a bland face moving his head affirmative "and something more, if anything troubles you, you can always talk to me like you and toyotomi did to me " "i will" and so kata depart from their conversation entering the palace hallways, wondering for hours in them turning in every corner, but in a turn of one of them kata falls to tomoe grabbing kata with one of her arms and pushing him in the walls and with the other one closing his mouth "i want your tone of your voice to be as low as possible, we have some important things to say" kata take gozens hands away of his face "what is so secret you needed to do this?" gozen looks at the hallways left and right "its about the divine" kata face stayed calm "you know as many things as i do and you understand that very well" "but i heard you telling to hina and bohan about the shogun having some information about them" "anything she said is useless or lies by the horrors" gozen words echoes inside the hallways "but it has to be some truth in that cant be?" "they just use her for their own purpose" "no it has to be something, just tell me" "what will you gain if I tell you the lies of the horrors anyway, it's just a waste of time and energy" gozen face struck with worry all over it "but don't you want to learn the truth about the world? About them? If our gods are really on our side and care for us? If they created us for something greater?" " it doesn't matter to me any of that" "then what is more important to you than even the gods and possibly our creators?" "no gozen i do not care as the gods dont care about me, i just want to do my own things, my own life and you should learn that too, good day" kata leave the conversation walking in the hallway and leaving gozen "kata please, i search the truth for so many years and now im so close" katas teeth grit as he walk " we dont have anything else to say, goodbye" kata resume his wonder in a big room with the opposite side having another set of doors, tummies filled with dirt on the left hanging from the wall and cases filled with wooden swords beside the doors.
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Kata take one sword form there and goes to the left picking up a tummie and placing it on the ground, he then move two meters away from it, placing his feet inward, having his hand close to the sword with a deep breath and his eyes focus on it the tummy form change to the shodun and move his feet and hands like thunder striking the tummie in the head with enough force to make it fall down,he get the katana back in the scrabard and picks up the tummie hanging it on the wall, slowly turning back seeing in the little distance bohan and takeda watching him with their mouths wide open, bohan says with excitement "kata that speed,only few in japan can strike so precisely and fast even miyamoto took a lot of training to achieve this" "its something i learned a long time ago" bohan comes close asking "and how old are you?" "twenty two" Bohan drops a small hysterical laugh " you are a natural talent" "thank you sir" "I told you to call me Bohan" Bohan point with his tip of the finger in the wall saying "could you stay with me here for a while until Takeda finish his training?" "with great pleasure" kata and Bohan place their backs on the wall watching Takeda shooting at the dummies "you know kata, hina told me that Takeda is trying really hard to become a leader for our army" "so this is the ideal child to grow and become a leader" "yes, even if he falls he always gets up, but" " but what?" "I believe he doesn't want this path" "what do you mean?" "I just have a sense that he is doing all of this for the sake of their parents and the warriors, for the sake that he was born in this situation" "then why don't you choose Uesugi to lead the army?" " in the past when many children took the throne or high ranks they killed one another for power, that's why its too late to change that and the fact that Takeda outclasses his brother in every field, this is why we choose him and not Uesugi " " its really sad to see a Takeda turn something he is not wanting to be" "yes but our army need a leader when we die, it's for the greater good" "I understand" kata take his back from the wall leaving" "do you leave so fast?" "yes i have to do somet things" "then i dont want to hold you back, goodbye for now" bohan and kata wave each other and kata walks again outside with his head low, being lost in his thoughts and hitting into rocks from time to time, as he walk by he come out of fortune in a open field close to the palace, its ground covered by grass with big trees making a circle and a single small tree on its center with its braches breaking down making a shadow big enough to cover a full grown human , kata approach it touching his back on it, falling down, closing his eyes and trying to sleep, but soon after a while a sound of a man and of a woman from the woods interupt him making him open his eyes , uesugi and hina come out of the trees being close face to face and murmuring , kata walks close but doesnt hear anything, that they say claerly he then touch uesugis shoulder turning quickly behind" kata you scare my life out of me" "im sorry i just felt an uncomfortable feeling from you two " uesugi open his mouth but hina jumps straight to katas face "kata can i talk
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to you for a while Over the tree? " kata sign "yes " they both walk in thr shadow a lonely leafy tree on their left, almost 15 meters away from uesugi "whats the problem hina?" "I want you to talk to Uesugi about his training" "I know he puts much time to train but what changed now?" "15 minutes ago i went here to give him a cup of water and i find him laying in the ground ready to collapse, he needs to stop that before his healt got worse " "i know but he doesn't listen to me" hina take her eyes in the leafs of the tree "maybe i wasnt really a good mother, always working on duties but i want both of them to have a life who will not regret so please try to reach him with your worse " "i will talk to him, but stay here it will take a while" "thanks kata, i owe you " kata approach uesugi from his face "arent you feeling tired?" uesugi face squished "i can continue all day if i want to" "uesugi we have talked about this" "i know kata but " "theres no but uesugi you have to look on other things" "but kata i have to train until i become perfect" "uesugi i talked to you about this why are you so stubborn?" uesugi screams with all strength he have on his lungs "because i want to prove myself " kata face flatter with only his eyes being wide open "im always a shadow of my brother, nobody even recognize me, thats why i want to be perfect, to show everyone that im worthy, that i have a meaning in all of this" kata mouth stay close, saying nothing in return "do you understand now?" "I understand Uesugi but this doesn't justify anything, your mother is worried" "after I finish with this I will spend as much time as she wants" "maybe it will be too late then" Uesugi turn his face back to the bohiya "can you leave now?" kata voice lowers "if we don't have anything else to discuss" kata leaves and goes back in the tree where hina is standing "what did my son said? Is he gonna stop this?" "he told me that he will continue until he is good enough to be recognized" "recognized? by who?" " by the people around him"hinas hand starts shaking, whispering "it's all my fault" "hina what do you mean?" hinas hand stops in a blink of an eye "forget what I said, it's alright now, you can go" "if you ever need me again I would gladly help" "thank you kata" kata departed and went back to the room he was going to sleep yesterday, opening the door finding Nozomi sleeping , throwing low snorings from time to time, kata sits on the wall and lay down closing his eyes "tiring day right?" katas eyes open and takes his look on Nozomi, "I thought you were sleeping" "I was until you open the door" "im sorry" Nozomi chuckles "it's alright you are put through many things today " "what do you mean? " " the accident of gozen, the unexpected questions of tomoe and so on" "did you watch me all this day?" "I wanted to talk to you but every time someone needed your help" "is it something important you wanted to ask me?" "what is bothering you so much?" kata face stayed the same without moving a muscle "there is nothing that bothers me everything is alright" "yesterday you went alone outside the palace and after i saw you, i sensed something in your eyes,a weight or maybe a cry inside your soul" kata gets up with force "there is nothing wrong, everything is the same" "but if this cry is there from a long time, does it start now to kneel you? " kata calmly says "i was and still am the same without this cry " "then we should end this conversation here" "yes" kata walks up to the door and before touching the door handle nozomi says "kata i will say it one more we have many things in common, i can understand you, whenever you need help i will be here" kata drops a quite laugh and pass throught the door, closing behind him, kata now goes back to the same place he met cozbe and whispers"come here" kata sits in the same rock as before waiting for minutes and minutes acompany by the melody of the birds, finally hearing footsteps from the woods "i came as you wish kata" the melody stops amd kata asks"i want to ask you some things" "as you wish but you have to know your time is very limited " "then answer me quick, why are you helping me, Why me?" "you are the most skilled warrior, you push entire waves of enemies by yourself, its only natural you will be my choice " "then after I kill the shogun will it even be possible for a human to kill a divine? " "do not get the wrong expectations kata, my sisters and brothers may be gods but they are cowards, scared of losing their immortality and lives , hiding in their own heaven, but with my sword it will be easy for someone to kill them , of course the man who will do that needs to be a great warrior to ensure that humanity will not be doomed " a silence covered both of them for a while with cozbe asking "is that all?" "no, tell me about this girl and where her family is " " i found her alone in a small isolated house with blood coming out from her body and a horror enjoying torturing this inoccent girl, i kill the horror and then got inside her body , giving her enough strength to continue until the road where you find her" "how much time do we have?" "you have enough time to ask me one more question" kata eyes focused on cozbe face with one final question "why do the horrors want so desperately to kill you and the divine?" cozbe starts dropping small laughs with kata connecting his eyebrows "what is so funny" "its really amusing how you defended that horror back then and now you ask me about his kind, this shows how much you truly trust him at your core" "i just want to see the view from both sides" "oh so it is then, i will tell you everything about this filthy, unworthy, bringers of death and torment , their first appearance was 500 years ago, they ravage the land almost wiping out japan and moving to other countries to continue their atrocities, but luckily i came to earth informing ashashi about the tragedies and making him the first divine warrior,saving japan and its humans, and now history repeats itsfelf with you being their savior" "im no savior, i just want to avenge the ones i love" "tell me kata how is this feeling of revenge? What drives you? " kata takes his look at the trees saying "because they make them left this world so fast, taking their joy and ambitions away , now they will give me their lives and repay for what they take " "fascinating" "what do you mean by that ?" with her mouth open cozbe is ready to answer but quickly turn her body behind and with a serious and deep voice she says " the shogun began opening the dome" kata screams "how do you know it? We are surrounded by mountains and her castle is far down in Kagoshima" "she is in the divine palace, I can see her having her sword down in the dirt trying to gather power" "but no more than two days passed why did she do it now?" "I don't know but judging by her pale face she seems she needs much more time" "how many days do we have?" "6 days" kata turn and start running "I have to tell the others" cozbe try to reach out with her hand shouting "fall down" and the earth shakes, kata and cozbe fall down with their heads facing the sky,now covered by lighting, its sound piercing their ears, kata screamed from the ground "how do we stop this? "first you need to close the portal to seal the horrors and then kill the shogun" "tell me, where is the portal?" "it's in the depths of a tall mountain in the west from here " " alright, we have to go back now, give your body back to the girl" cozbe gets up saying" no" kata slowly gets up "what do you mean no?" "tell the human that the girl run away" "no you will come back with me " out of nowhere a light appears behind cozbe with kata covering his eyes "we will meet later kata" and the light vanish with cozbe, kata look around, searching for cozbe but the lighting a sound interrupts him, kata stops searching and starts running passing the camps, with the warriors gsthers inside and out the palace, he passes through them and brust inside the room where Bohan hina and everybody else is gathered "the shogun already started her plans against the divine " Nozomi asks "how do you know this?" "It doesn't matter just give me a horse and I will go stop this" gozen shout "no you will not go alone " "gozen im gonna be fine" " Toyotomi said the same thing and die, I will not let you have the same fate " kata turn his head on hina "hina I know you understand the weight of the situation, please give me a horse and I can stop this" hina answers "alright, I hope you can end this" "thank you" kata turn, ready to go to the stable, before moving gozen hugs him with her eyes closed "I cannot find sakura and now you are gonna leave " kata eyes glisten for a second and then close them hugging gozen back "when I return we are gonna find sakura alright? " "come back fast please" "I will" kata left from her hug and everybody farewells him, leaving for mount daisen.
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