Chapter - 22

Ikki's consciousness was within the blizzard. Within the incessant snow, while cowering, he recalled his beginning. About that day exactly like this, when he was freezing down to his bones. Where the Ikki Kurogane that existed now started.

Meeting Ryouma Kurogane, he was born from being told for the first time that it was fine to believe in himself, and being very happy about it. Several months later, Ryouma died of old age, but the words he left behind were kept alive inside Ikki. And Ikki decided that someday, he would also become a person who would confer those words to someone like him who was cowering and unmoving in front of the wall of talent, and from that day onward, he continued to fight against his own limits.

If he had not had that meeting, he would not exist today. The encounter with Ryouma was something Ikki was proud of. But―

「Was that meeting right?」

A voice like his own whispered something in his ear.

「That meeting, did it bring you anything but agony and loneliness?"

Gradually, scenes of the past rose in Ikki's addled mind.

During elementary school. Himself as a child, continuously swinging Intetsu while bleeding from hands that had skin peeling off. Those days, was what he did the right thing to do? And he didn't even know if he had truly become strong. In those days where he knew nothing, he had learned how to wield a sword from illustrations in reference books. No matter how much he had reached his limits, there was no one willing to instruct him. Therefore, he had stealthily peeped on the children of the branch family from a thicket, and continuously imitated them. That was… very lonesome, he remembered well. The gentleness and strictness shown to other children by the sword instructors who came to the Kurogane household, they were never shown to him, and he had felt that pain whether he wanted to or not.

―What came up next was the scene in a dojo. Ikki who was in middle school had traveled to a dojo to gain skill. Eventually, there was one scene. A one-on-one fight. Even though he had to make that agreement, the instant the opening signal was given, other disciples would strike him all at once, and he would be held down at that spot.

「The experience of making fun of challenging a dojo, we'll make sure you don't have it a second time!」

And saying so, the middle school club president who was Ikki's opponent took Ikki's hand and broke the pinky with all his might. While guffawing, he did the same to the rest of Ikki's fingers. There was not a single person there to help Ikki. While one and all were laughing in real fun, every single finger was broken. The pain and fear of being abused at that time, it was seared into his memories even now.

―The last scene that appeared was… one year ago.

「Hey hey. Not resisting won't prove your strength, you know? I, the Hunter, said I would personally be your opponent. At least counterattack!」

He, who had been filled with holes by Kirihara, was stared at by the cold eyes of the teachers.

And―

「Sorry, Kurogane-kun. I can't stay friends with you anymore.」

The words from the friend who drew away from him….

―The voice that was like Ikki's whispered something.

「And now, here you are on the ground in this kind of place. It's because you wanted to prove Ryouma Kurogane's irresponsible words. You're exactly as Father said, if a person lives within his means, this kind of thing wouldn't happen. Nor would you be dragging along this dying body, clawing your way to the place where you'll fight to the death. A desire beyond your means will only bring you unhappiness. For people, there are domains that correspond to each of them. For those who reach for more, there are only pain and solitude. So? Have you had enough? Then be be reasonable, and relax. The nonsense of the departed, that doesn't have to bind you forever. If you just let yourself fall asleep here, everything will be settled. Ryouma Kurogane's words won't torment you ever again. So―」

Just rest already.

Yeah, that's right. He should just rest. If he continued like this, there would only be bitterness. If he closed his eyes, he would be happy. He would surely be happy. He understood that.

He under…stood… that… but―

"Ahhh AAAHHHHH AAAAAHHHHHHH!"

A roar came forth from his festering throat, and Ikki raised his body up from the asphalt. And step by step, with each step hardening his stride, he continued through the blizzard up the slope.

「Just stop already. Why do you keep hurting yourself?」

The voice asked that question. The answer to that, Ikki didn't know himself. With his muddied mind and recollections, he couldn't hold a single thought or memory.

But―since a while ago, something had been continually reflected in his consciousness.

Red… flame.

Gently swaying, spreading incandescence, flame-like red hair.

Whose hair was that? Whose back was that? Right now, Ikki couldn't even remember.

But―every time he caught a fleeting glimpse, his heart couldn't help but be stirred. Even though he didn't know who that was, just because that hair swayed, the heat in his frozen body burned, and his body that had used up all its energy became stimulated.

「Just rest. Someone as hopeless as you will only be defeated by that Raikiri. What can you do if you go there? What can you do as you are now?」

He didn't know about that. In the first place, Ikki didn't know what he was trying to do going there, or where he was even going.

But―

Aah, but―

There was a heat burning in his chest. Feeling that, Ikki remembered only one thing.

I made a promise.

「So… go… high… knigh….」

Though he didn't quite recall the contents, it was a precious vow, made to a precious person.

That wasn't all. He could hear a voice. What it was saying, he couldn't tell. But that familiar voice like a great commotion was pushing him onward.

Then―I have to….

That was Ikki's answer. At that answer, the thing that had been throwing taunts at him heaved a breath of disgust.

「Is that how it is? To the bitter end, you're going to continue your pain, I see.」

On a blackened face, it gave a twisted smile.

「However―it's futile.」

At that moment―

Ah….

At the exact moment he reached Hagun Academy's main gate, Ikki knee collapsed, and his body tumbled to the ground. Whatever Ikki's determination, his body had reached its limit. He could not advance farther than that. He could not stand up anymore. This was the limit of the person named Ikki Kurogane.

「You're finished, you know.」

Ikki's body would fall like a marionette whose strings had been cut, and that body would lay on the ground. The ground that he would not rise from a second time.

―That was what would happen.

However, at the moment he fell.

With a *thump*.

Arms full of warm and gentle strength caught his falling body. With those strong arms, a trembling subdued voice said something.

"…Welcome back, Onii-sama."

That sweet bell-like voice called forth the memory of a single person from his slowly collapsing recollection. The memory of Ikki's only cherished little sister. That name was―

"Shizu…ku…."

Part 8[]

Shizuku, who had caught Ikki's collapsing body in her arms, spoke to him in a hoarse voice.

"…Last night, I heard what Touka-san said, and it's been in my head the entire time."

Whether she should stop her brother, or not.

To speak Shizuku's honest feelings, she thought she wanted to stop him. It was enough already. Her brother had already fought on more than enough. She didn't want her brother to be hurt anymore. To have such bitter experiences. Stop trying to become a knight, and come back to the Kurogane house with her. For her brother, it might be a prison. But she herself was there for her brother. She herself could give her brother love as a mother, a sister, a friend, a lover. She could give her brother whatever he wanted. Therefore… she should let her brother rest.

"…But even if I think that, I can't help but hesitate about stopping Onii-sama. Because when Onii-sama is at this school, he laughs like he is truly happy."

The times he was at their family home was unimaginable. Yes, he smiled at the young and immature Shizuku, but never smiled, not once, for himself. The smiling face that her brother had earned for himself little by little. To take that away from him, she could not do so no matter the reason.

"So I'll make a gamble. Now that Onii-sama came here by his own will―I will send him off to battle with the biggest cheers I can offer."

Along with Shizuku's words―a commotion arose.

"That's right, Senpai! If it's you, you'll definitely win!!!"

"The match hasn't started yet! Hurry!!!"

"Kurogane-kun! There's just a little more to the arena grounds! Do your best!!!"

"Ikki-kuuun! Fight―!!!"

"Just one more push! Show us what you got―!!!"

These were the cheers that Shizuku had run around gathering in order to send her brother forth. Friends, classmates, pupils, former opponents―many students had been waiting for Ikki's arrival at the main gate. And to Ikki who showed a face like he couldn't believe what he was seeing, Shizuku spoke.

"Onii-sama. Among this group, no one asked anything. Because for all of us, we can easily imagine what has happened to corner you like this. But please don't forget. Onii-sama, you're definitely… not alone. You certainly might have been alone in the beginning. That time might have been very, very long. But right now, all of these people are supporting you. Even Stella-san and Alice who couldn't be here because of their own matches, they are praying for your victory. You, the Worst One, are the hero of every one of us."

So―

"Please fight. And please win!"

The cheers from Shizuku and the others. They… certainly reached the consciousness of Ikki who was alone in the blizzard. Ikki in his blurry vision confirmed it firmly.

"Please fight. And please win!"

His silver-haired little sister was there.

"Senpai, I'm going to put a special feature about you on the next wall newspaper, so you absolutely can't lose! Please!"

His lovely classmate with the glasses was there.

"Kurogane-kun. This is a critical moment, you know!"

A tall and beautiful former pupil was there.

"Sensei believes in you. You're not a boy who would lose in this kind of place."

"The student council president is stupidly strong, but you won against me, so let's see your strength!"

"Yeah, what she said."

"Ikki-kun! We absolutely believe that will win!"

The other students who he taught the sword to, as well as the upperclassmen who had always helped him. The classmates who he studied together with. The teacher who had let him into the academy. The worthy opponents who he had competed against for the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival―

Many people were calling Ikki's name. From that sight, a single conviction was born inside of Ikki.

Ahh, at last I understand.

The thing supporting his body that had already been driven past its limits, what that thing was. It was their voices, and their hopes.

People who loved him. People who admired him. And―people whose dreams he had snatched away. The people who were gathered here right now, each and every one of them was entrusting some form of hope to Ikki. That was why they were calling Ikki's name. And those voices, those hopes, they were pushing Ikki onward.

Since the time Utakata told him that 「Between the two of you, the weight of responsibility you're carrying is different」, he had thought he had nothing burdening him, but that was a mistake. His own limits had been exceeded, and Ikki was barely aware of his own existence. The things burdening him now, were the desires entrusted to him.

At some point, I became that kind of person…

The moment he gained that conviction, Ikki felt the fire burning in his heart. *Babump, babump*, the blood flowing inside his body grew hot, and his strength returned. His collapsed thoughts, memories, they certainly returned to their original form, and his consciousness was cleared.

―He would fight. Of course he would. If hopes were entrusted to him, he could never give up of his own accord.

And more than anything else, he had something with that girl with the flame-like hair who wasn't here―a promise with Stella.

「So let's go together, the two of us, as high as knights can go.」

Right now, he could clearly remember. That precious vow. In order to fulfill that, he could not let things end here!

"…Thanks, Shizuku. Kusakabe-san. Ayatsuji-san. Tomaru-san. Saijou-san. Oreki-sensei. And all of you here."

―At some point, the blizzard had ended.

Giving his thanks, Ikki separated from Shizuku and walked on with his own feet. With his head held high, by the strength that everyone had brought him, to the place of the decisive battle.

His heart was no longer uneasy.

「Someone as hopeless as you will only be defeated by that Raikiri.」

The words that the weak self inside Ikki had spoken. To that, he could answer clearly now.

―Be defeated?

They were burdened with the same weight, and they were knights of equal status. He didn't know if he could win. In truth, she was a formidable enemy. Was she an opponent he could defeat with this physical condition?

The more he thought about it, the more disadvantages he could see, and only that. But he would do the only thing he could. Because for the sake of everyone who gave him strength to move forward step by step, he had the duty to do that.

"Well, off I go―"

At that moment―

"Ikki!!!"

A voice resounded loudly in the summer air. Very, very strongly, and beautifully―a voice more lovely than the notes of any music.