Thoma returned with a letter from Ayaka, pleading you to temporarily hold office in the Kamisato Estate while the private investigation commenced. The Traveler had taken another commission with Heizou to begin investigating, and your parents were hidden away in a safe location as was Chisato.

"The Traveler has been informed of our route," he said. "He's ready to patrol it along with the rest of his party, including young master Kaedehara."

That evening, you and Ayato departed for the Kamisato Estate.

Once again, you found yourself in the same carriage traveling towards the same place. This time, neither you nor Ayato were arguing. Only now could you see how terrifying Inazuma looked in the darkness. Your eyes grew strained as you glanced outside, looking for shadows that didn't exist. You imagined the crowds of enemies you couldn't anticipate.

"The Shuumatsuban are watching over us," Ayato reassured you, but even he sounded tense. "Please don't worry, F/N."

You didn't rebuke him when he placed a hand on your thigh, though it should be inappropriate. You wanted to feel safe. Under different circumstances, you would have laughed at the irony: Ayato, the man whom you'd thought was your greatest enemy, was now the only person you trusted and felt safe around.

"I know," he said softly. "Things like this have happened to me, too. But that's part of being a commissioner. You must be brave even if there will always be someone who doesn't want you to lead."

You glanced at Ayato, astonished. You had thought that he was above everything and that everybody bowed down to his will. You never realized just how much he was carrying on his shoulders—his family, all of Inazuma, hell, even his own life.

Now, you were getting a taste of what it must have been like for him when his parents died and he was all the Kamisato Clan had left. Now, in the same way, you were all the Hiragi Clan had left.

The realization fell on you like a pile of bricks.

"There was more to the reason why you cut me off all those years ago, wasn't there?" you asked quietly. "It wasn't just for your clan's safety, it was for mine too."

You understood now. Ayato had left you standing in the rain, telling you to your face that he could no longer associate with you because if he hadn't, you would have become a target by everyone that had tried to hurt him while he was ascending to becoming head of the clan.

Ayato's steely gaze fell. "F/N."

He always knew what to say.

"You should have told me," you whispered. "I could have—I could have helped you."

But you knew that wasn't true. Even when you did have the power, it was Ayato who saved you, Ayato who helped you, who gave you everything he could give you no matter how many times you refused him. He gave you a rueful smile, and only there did it strike you how incredibly tired he looked, so wholly different from the confident, authoritative person he was.

"If they had known how much I cared about you, you would have been harmed a long time ago," he said. He sighed. "I couldn't protect you forever. I guess that in the end, it still happened because of me."

"Don't say that."

"I was young and stupid, and I was terrified," he admitted. "I was already scared of what they might do to Ayaka. If I had dragged you into it... I loathe imagining the outcome. You might have been poisoned, kidnapped, or worse to force me into giving up. I couldn't let that happen."

'Ayato' and 'scared' were two words you couldn't piece together in the same sentence. To you, he had always seemed fearless.

"You should have told me," you repeated.

"Ah, but you're stubborn, Your Grace," Ayato smiled. "It's easier for them to ignore you as long as we hate each other."

"Ayato." Guilt twisted your insides. "I—"

The carriage stopped.

At first, all you could hear was the sound of cicadas outside.

Then, the sound of blades being drawn.

Ayato grabbed your arm immediately.

"When I give a signal, we will exit this carriage," he said calmly. "You will stay behind me no matter what, understand?"

You knew better than to disobey. As soon as the voices got near, Ayato gripped your arm. He yanked, and both of you burst out the door onto the grass of Chinju Forest.

Rogue officers surrounded you and Ayato. They weren't of the Kujou Clan but a smaller Tenryou faction. The guards who had been sent to watch the carriage and the coach were gone. You imagined them bound and tied up somewhere, unable to help.

"You have the chance to leave," Ayato said patiently, like he was only making negotiations. "Lest you wish for the Tenryou Commission to cut ties with your clan."

"Just give the girl," the head brute said. His companions waited, blades in hand. "Hand her over, and you may leave safely."

"I will spare no shred of mercy if you even attempt to take her away from me," Ayato said calmly, narrowing his eyes. "The only one leaving safely is her."

He raised his sword and slashed down.

You had seen Ayato fight before. There were even times when you would spar against each other. His swordsmanship had improved. You watched, as the enemies were cut down in a flash of his silhouette's water illusions and blades.

Advancements came. Something slammed against your back. Two ronins had crept up behind you and Ayato. The first brought his blade down. You ducked around its path as Ayato murmured, "Kamisato Art: Suiyuu."

Rain surrounded you under his burst, taking down the rest. Ayato whipped around to make sure you were alright. Suddenly, the second ronin slammed the butt of his sword against Ayato's sword arm and it clattered out of his hands. He raised his blade against him. You looked up at Ayato, and he looked at you. Fear flashed across his eyes.

A look of amusement crossed the ronin's face. As if he suspected this would be much more entertaining for himself and much more painful for Kamisato Clan head, he slid his blade to his left and brought it down on you.

You didn't even have time to think. You couldn't move at all, but you saw the blur of Ayato's coat as he pushed you behind him and kicked the ronin's legs. The blade missed and slashed across Ayato's front.

He winced in pain and keeled. The ronin recovered and pulled his sword back to deliver the finishing blow against the Yashiro Commissioner.

Suddenly, his sword arm faltered, and then dropped. The ronin made a startled gurgling noise of disbelief at Ayato's sapphire sword protruding from his stomach. He fell forward and lay still.

You met Ayato's eyes, and then you wrenched his sword out of the ronin's back.

A large red stain was rapidly growing across Ayato's coat, and the cut looked deep. You kneeled as he began to breathe labored breaths.

"Oh, Ayato," you cried. "I'm sorry."

"No, no—it's alright, you saved me."

He was trying to reassure you, but you could see how much paler he was becoming. There were more shouts; you expected the Tenryou Commission had sent more ronins.

Someone burst out of the thicket. You raised the sword until you realized it was the Traveler and Kazuha.

"There you are," Aether exclaimed, relieved. He saw Ayato. "What—"

"There's more of them coming," Kazuha stated, another Inazuman swordsman who was remarkably calm. He too had faced a similar situation. "We can't linger around."

He unsheathed his blade and walked into the darkness to scout the area.

"Can you walk?" you asked Ayato, whose front was now doused in blood.

He shook his head. "A waste of time. Go."

"Ayato—"

"I'm not asking you," he said as forcefully as he could manage. He looked directly at Aether. "Traveler, take F/N back to the estate. Swiftly."

Aether and Ayato stared at each other for a long second.

"I'm not leaving you," you insisted.

"Please," Ayato begged. He clutched your robes, staining them with his blood. "Go home, understand? Whatever it takes, you go home."

Aether nodded and grabbed your arm hard, and you couldn't wriggle out. Your body relented and you dropped Ayato's sword for him to wield.

"Beloved," Ayato breathed, squeezing your hand one last time before Aether dragged you away, pleading with him to let you stay.

You pinched your eyes as Aether blindly led you through Chinju Forest, begging every last archon to keep Ayato alive. Certainly, everyone in the Yashiro Commission was off to help him. They wouldn't let him die. They couldn't. But he looked so pale. You should have been with him, especially when he was out of breath and hurt. Ayato was strong. And he truly loved you if he had risked his life just to protect you.

You didn't even know what his last words to you exactly were.

Beloved.

Be loved.

You couldn't go back and ask. You weren't even sure if you would ever be able to anymore.

The forest tilted. You could hear the Traveler saying something, and your body felt weak after the full scale of what you'd done settled on your shoulders, like karmic debt. Not wanting to waste time, Aether scooped you up and ran through the forest with you in his hold.

You thought of Ayato, bleeding out somewhere in the darkness with no one but Kazuha in the vicinity against a multitude of enemies. If he died, everything beautiful and safe about this world would die with him. Your heart and soul would be crushed to dust. There was still so much to say, so much to do, that should wait for today and tomorrow and all the day after that.

If he died, you would die a living death too.

"I promise, if you live..." Your whispers came in short breaths, trying to reach Ayato far away. "I'm yours."

The darkness swallowed you whole, and you were left limp to dream.