The closer they got to Nagato, the more salt Sen could smell in the air. His thoughts lingered on the thought of the duel he had waiting for him there, but it would all be worth it if Hashi got the chance at living a healthy normal life. When they arrived in one of the port towns, they found Maru and company waiting for them. The Sayonakidori pushed himself off of the building he was standing on and walked to meet Sen with a nod and a smile.

"Welcome to Nagato. I'll let you pick the place since I set the terms," Maru continued to smile at him despite receiving less than nothing in reply from Sen to his initial greeting.

"I saw a field," Sen spoke, his face an expressionless mask, "up on a ridge on our way in. We can duel there.

"Ah, the one overlooking the sea," Maru nodded. "Good choice. Scenic. I'm happy you chose to agree to the duel. I'd hate to have had to kill you."

"I would have loved to have seen you try," Yuzuha growled, and her presence made Nobuhiko take a step back once again as Naoyuki snickered at him.

Maru blinked at her before looking to Sen once again, "So... Tomorrow at dawn, then? I want us both to be rested before we do this."

The other man nodded and moved past him without so much as another word, and once the group had put sufficient distance between them, Aoi trotted up and pulled his katana from his belt. "Take this," he handed the blade to Sen. "If you go in with that odachi, he'll gut you like a fish before you can even swing."

"Aoi... This is..." Sen looked down at the sword before he looked back up at the old samurai. "I can't take this-!"

"You can and you will. That blade is solid and true. It won't fail you. That sword has fought hundreds of duels. Let it fight one more for you," Aoi nodded and shoved the sword to Sen's chest. "Consider it a favor for helping Kikukawa. Oh, and I want it back when you win."

When, Sen noted. Not if. "I wish I had your confidence..."

"Kid, let me let you in on a secret. You have one advantage on him: you fight people while he fights yokai. He may have been trained by duelists, but you fight all sorts of unorthodox people, and it gave you an unorthodox style. Use that. Oh, and his left side is weak, so hammer away on that while you're at it."

"His left side?"

"Yeah. I think his left arm was broken once. The last time we fought him, I remember how he tended to favor his right. Told me there was an old wound there he was compensating for..."

"We could always just, you know, hop on a boat and not deal with it," Yuzuha suggested from behind them.

"Bad idea," Hachirou cut in. "Then they'd chase us down and try to kill us."

Yuzuha paused before she asked, "Okay, fine, but can I still hit the samurai again? I don't know, something about him makes me want to hit him."

Sen smiled when he heard Emi groan. "Why do you always default to violence?" He heard the nun ask with a heavy sigh.

Sen chuckled and looked over at Hashi, who had a pensive look about him that Sen knew he always got when he was anxious. He slowed himself slightly to fall in beside his friend and gave him a friendly nudge with his elbow as Yuzuha argued with Emi and Hachirou behind him. "You alright?"

Hashi smiled down at him and nodded. He began gesturing to Sen, Worried about the duel.

"Yeah, I'm anxious, too."

Hashi hesitated and continued, I will come with you. Just to be safe.

Sen paused and smiled up at his friend. "There's no one else I'd rather have with me."

---

Sen woke even before he was supposed to. The sky was still dark and the stars twinkled overhead. They had shacked up in one of the many small inns that night, and he had barely managed to sleep over the noisy din from the rooms surrounding them. He sat up and quietly dressed himself, taking Aoi's old sword as he rose and made his way outside. Hashi was already up and waiting for him, rising as Sen approached him with a smile. "Couldn't sleep?"

The yokai shook his head and gestured to the road. Before they could leave, Sen heard the door open behind them. When he looked, he saw Yuzuha standing there. Her hair hung freely down her shoulders and she was without her armor. In fact, he noted, it looked like she just woke up, all things considered. "What are you doing up so early?" He asked and turned to face her as she walked up to him.

"I just wanted to wish you luck," she said, her eyes scanning his face. "Well, I actually just wanted to wish your sword arm a good fight. Luck probably won't help against a guy like that Maru, but..." She paused and watched him before letting out a breath she seemed to have been holding. "You better come back, you stupid idiot."

"That... is a strange way to wish someone luck..." Sen began, but was cut off when Yuzuha planted another awkward kiss on his lips before she backed away.

"If you die, I'll kill you."

"Noted," Sen felt heat flare up in his cheeks as Yuzuha's own reddened in the first light of the dawn. With one final look at her, Sen and Hashi turned and made for the ridge just outside of town, leaving Yuzuha standing outside of the inn, watching them the whole way.

---

When they finally reached the top of the hill and rounded the path to the field, they found Maru's group already waiting for them. The gaikoku-jin slapped Maru's shoulder and gestured to Sen and Hashi with his chin when he finally noticed that the two had arrived, and Nobuhiko gave a quick bow of greeting himself before Maru fully turned to him. He seemed surprised, but much to Sen's own surprise, he gave him a friendly smile. "Beautiful morning for a duel, eh? You picked a nice spot for it."

"If one of us has to die, might as well be with a view, right?"

Maru smiled and nodded, "You came. I can't say that I was expecting that, honestly."

"I don't go back on my word."

Maru smiled and nodded as his hand went for his sword, "That's good. My terms still stand."

The two of them stood amidst the rolling grass as the sound of the waves mingled with the salt in the air. The breeze made the grass roll about their legs as Sen unsheathed his katana, and he silently hoped that Aoi's old blade would hold out for one more duel. The world around them seemed to fade away as Sen narrowed his focus down to Maru and only Maru. Hashi needed him to win, and there was no way in hell he planned to lose.

He could hear his heartbeat in his ears as the world slowed to almost a crawl and for a moment, he shut his eyes. If he had to die today, he would die for Hashi. That alone was enough for him. He readied his blade as he watched Maru slowly change his stance and took a breath.

If he had to die today...

Well, at least it was with a view.