AT-8 Flowing River

Yes, it's me! I just came back from our Diet friend's place!

Where is Hoshiguma?

The venue?!

What about Mio? Has she dealt with them?

No?! She left?

That traitor!

What about the network? Did you record what's going on inside? What about Hoshiguma?

Dammit! Get the editors on it NOW and make the footage of her fight with Mio look like she's completely lost control—

What do you mean there's no time?! Hacking? Hijacked network?! Can't deal with it?

What good are you?! Cut the signal if you can't deal with it! The power supply too! The only thing left to air tonight is the apology! Who cares if the signal goes out?

We can't have someone babbling on MY channel—

Hello? Hello?!

Chikusho! Lost the signal?

You idiot! You demand I come and give a personal explanation, that just gives my enemies a chance to strike!

Everything's gone to hell while I was humoring that bastard... even Hannya is gone...

......

(Takes a deep breath)

Calm down.

Clean up the mess and start over. It'll be alright. It's not the first time.

First, go to the venue and stop those insects. The diet has given the nod on Hoshiguma. All that's left is to clean up public opinion...

......

Came to cause trouble with your dear Hoshiguma-aneki, have you?

Hoshiguma?

Oh my goodness. Should I compliment you for your bravery, or your adorable stupidity?

Look at how beat-up you are. Seems like my men were still playing with you, not knowing that you no longer had any use.

Who did you grab this real sword from? Tell me, and I'll return it to him before he gets angry.

Kinbee... you...

Me?

I don't have time to play with you, Tetsuya.

Your father may have taught you the basics of swordsmanship when you were little, but you have a long, long way to go before you're ready to use it in a real fight.

A father and son who got turned against each other by a mask. How much do you think you actually understood about the swordplay that he taught you?

Turned against?!

Yes... turned against each other...

I've said all I needed to say. Now get lost before I change my mind and reunite you with Tessai.

You're the one who should be reunited with my father!

Hello everyone, good... good evening.

I... I'm Momoka Hanyuu... the girl who's so afraid of kaidan, but who just couldn't seem to get away from them.

I'm sorry for disturbing you all, after that big accident that just occurred on air...

Momo-cchi?!

Didn't she go missing? How did she suddenly pop up like that?

Was that emergency broadcast really a kaidan?

Is she caught in the middle of a kaidan... and looking for help from us?!

As you can see, I'm standing here before you.

Strange things seem to happen to me all the time. That's how kaidan are: they appear without warning, and disappear the same way.

But what if I told you that all the kaidan were fake, from the very beginning?

Momoka? Kinseki Channel's really throwing money into her, pulling that disappearing act. What's the kaidan this time?

She said they're fake.

What? Is she out of her mind? Does she think we're all stupid? Aren't kaidan all around us all the time?

That's what she said. Don't ask me, watch her yourself.

What if I told you that, with the exception of a handful of kaidan associated with the kami, all the shows that I've been on, all the kaidan that I experienced... all of them were fabricated?

I'm not talking about hypotheticals. I'm talking about true lies.

Kinseki Station and the Kinseki Talent Agency deceived you, and I unknowingly became their accomplice.

I'm sorry.

I won't make any excuses for deceiving you. I'll accept any criticism.

I told you, no TV tonight!

My classmate told me they're airing something really amazing! Look! The kaidan lady spills the beans on fake kaidan!

I've been a part... of countless lies.

For example, the original kaidan, the family home of the Ao-Oni of the Kinsekikai in Kajimachi that killed its residents.

It was no paranormal activity, just actual murder.

I now accuse Kouhei Mifune, president of Kinseki Channel and the Kinseki Talent Agency, and the de facto leader of the Kinsekikai yakuza syndicate, of being the mastermind behind all this.

Without any evidence, he suspected me of being in league with his political opponent, Tessai, and plotted to infect me with Oripathy, when I knew nothing of any of it.

The 'Ao-Oni of Kinsekikai' was exiled from Mitsukue after taking the fall for his crimes, many years ago. She was framed for my kidnapping, when in fact, she had saved my life.

When I accidentally stumbled upon the truth behind the kaidan, he wanted to silence me, spreading rumors that I was retiring...

Detective Koretou! Upstairs is absolutely fuming!

This is the eighth time they're ordering us to cut the signal...

What did we do with the last seven orders?

...Nothing.

You've got it.

I know you've been unhappy about me saying that things will get better. I stopped believing it myself at some point.

Whatever happens tonight is on me. Let there be one night when the police don't have to grovel to anyone. It's my parting gift to you.

...This is what I needed to tell you tonight.

Next, there's something else I want to tell you... about myself.

I know a lot of people think I'm overacting in the shows... you think I'm being dramatic on purpose.

What I want to tell you is that fear has been a constant in Momoka Hanyuu's entire life.

Partly, it's because I was told too many horror stories when I was little, but...

The more important reason is that I grew up in Gokawa, the city infamous for its polluted water.

There, fear is not about serial killers roaming the streets at night, unicycles that bring misfortune, or elevators to hell...

It is about watching your loved ones becoming bedridden all of a sudden, falling while walking on flat ground, and losing the feeling in their hands.

It all happens so naturally, so gradually... and it's too late by the time you realize it.

I was one of the lucky ones. I came to Mitsukue, to be bathed in people's attention, be it adoring, judging, or scornful.

My fear was no longer about pain, illness and death; it was about viewer ratings, losing fans, pressure from the agency, and fabricated kaidan.

It seems such a luxury to fear those things, now that my life is once again under threat.

Isn't it a sort of happiness, to be afraid of kaidan?

We don't need to face true danger. We lie in our beds, screaming at stories we don't know if they're true, and satisfy ourselves with the sensation of our nerves tightening and relaxing again.

But... I'm afraid I can never enjoy it the same way again.

This luxury was lost to me forever when I learned that the kaidan that used to scare me were lies, manifestations of greed, murders, and cover-ups.

From this day forth, kaidan shall no longer be part of Momoka Hanyuu's life.

I hereby announce that I am leaving the Kinseki Talent Agency, and disassociating myself from all Kinsekikai affiliates!

......

I will continue to walk the performer's path, as long as I live.

I want to bring hope to others, and tell those plagued by fear that there is someone who was once just like you, someone who knows how you feel.

She will sing your story, act your story. She will do all that she can, so that your voices will not fade into darkness.

Wow, I really said a lot, didn't I?

You know, I'm starting to get cold feet now, after having said all that. I'm really timid, after all.

Maybe the kaidan aren't the only lies in our lives. Maybe there are countless more lies like theirs, and the prosperity that we enjoy...

...is built upon these lies.

What is that bitch babbling about?!

She doesn't know that everything is built upon faith. She doesn't know that if panic spreads—

But... this is our life. And it will continue, until the end arrives... if it arrives.

Even if it is built upon lies... upon bubbles that might shatter tomorrow, it's still our life...

A life that I have to learn to love.

Besides, even if a life like this is destined to disappear someday... it's beautiful, isn't it?

An instant of beauty will be the warmth that stays with us through the cold night, even after everything else falls apart... as long as we keep it in our hearts.

That's all I want to say.

This has been Momoka Hanyuu, and I apologize for taking up your valuable time.

Perhaps... no, we WILL meet again.

......

Oh, you got up again.

Shall we continue?

The bitch is done babbling. You can try to take revenge for your pop now, again.

Are you scared?

No.

But even a fool like me can tell that you're finished.

I'm showing my back to you. Aren't you going to kill me?

Not in the mood. There are plenty of other people I want to kill first.

I'll come find you when they're all dead.

Oh, and one more thing...

The words that I said to your father... They were actually for you.

Phew...

......

Where are we? Kichisei? Moriuchi-san? Sarasa?

Why is Sarasa on the ground... she's asleep?!

She fell asleep in the TV station too... does she get tired easy?

No time for this—it's my turn to carry her now!

Where are you, Momoka? Where's Sarasa?

Did you get lost in the alleys?

I'm—

Mmph!

Gotcha!

I... I got her! On my own! I-I might get promoted for this...

Good thing I had duct tape on me. She's a singer, who knows how loud she can get when she hollers?

I dreamed about 'ninjutsu items' before I became a ninja, but it's only the veterans who get to use the good stuff, while all I have is trash...

Gotta report this upstairs—

Gah, I forgot I discharged my terminal so I could enjoy an afternoon of peace and quiet in one of the coffee shops in the alleys.

Then this girl just falls into my hands like that! It's definitely my lucky day.

Where's my Originium Circuit Hyourougan?

It's charging so slowly.

Hey, how about I pull that tape off your mouth, and you sing a song or two for me?

Mmph, mm, mmmh!

Well, it's not like I would do it, even if you nodded.

Did you know? We were looking for you everywhere after you ran away on that motorbike that night. I was the one who searched your house.

Mmh!

Boy, was that a crappy place. Big idol like you, I thought you'd be living in a mansion or something, but you didn't have anything worth shit.

What's with the collection of garbage by your window, anyway? Some kind of weird obsession?

Mmph—argh! *cough* *cough*!

Say that again?!

The tape came loose? I thought I put it on right.

Hmph, who cares, just a frail little idol.

I tell you, not only did I have to check all that weird garbage you had by the window one by one, I also trimmed that dying plant for you.

You cut Hasuke?!

'Hasuke'? Oh, that tree sprout was barely even a weed.

Yeah, I did it. What about it? How did you even take care of it? I have no idea, 'cause its leaves were all yellow and brittle. No way it was gonna live, so I put it out of its misery. It was a kindness.

I've grown flowers before, and it takes patience, and endless love and care, you understand? Someone like you—

Hey, hey, hey, how did you get up? What kind of crappy duct tape was that?

I see, you must know some sort of Arts... you're Ægir, so I guess it's about water? That's it, of course, no wonder the tape came loose.

But didn't the vets say that only the Infected could use Arts without a unit? That's weird. You couldn't have broken the tape with brute force, could you?

Nah, of course not. I doubt you've ever lifted anything heavier than an apple! Must be Arts, definitely.

So what? What are you gonna do, spray water in my face?

Wha-you hit me on the head with your mic? What kind of Arts is...?

MURDERER!

BEAST!

HEARTLESS DEVIL!

THIS IS FOR HASUKE!

W-Wait, calm down—

NO I WILL NOT!

IT WASN'T DEAD YET! HOW COULD YOU—

HOW COULD YOU CUT MY HASUKE?!

Stop, stop, no—

I WILL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD! I WILL BEAT THIS HEARTLESS MONSTER TO DEATH!!!

Momoka?! What are you doing?

I'M KILLING THE BASTARD WHO KILLED MY HASUKE! I WILL RIP HIM FROM LIMB TO LIMB!!!

So, you're, er... you're fine?

I'M FINE! I'M VERY FINE! I'M GONNA BEAT THIS ASSHOLE INTO A PULP!!!

M-Momoka, calm down, he's not worth it, we gotta get out of here...

I've been waiting for you. No one can stop you, even after all these years.

Quit posturing. Your men have already scattered. I strolled right on in here.

What business does the 'Ao-Oni of Kinsekikai' have with a man who's already finished?

If you came to take revenge for yourself and Tessai, all you need to do is draw your sword.

Your crimes have been exposed on your own TV station. Your Diet member upstairs won't help you now, no matter how much bribe money he got from you.

How he may try to cover up his ill-gotten gains is none of my business.

It's enough for me that justice will be served for the people you actually killed.

You almost sound like a cop.

Yeah, I've been working for the Lungmen police force.

...Are you serious?

Yes, I am.

I want to laugh, but I'm not quite in the mood tonight. And I thought the L.G.D. was just a gimmick.

......

I only came to do what I should have done when I took that step twenty years ago. I came to cut my last ties to Higashi.

And how do you intend to do that? You can't cut yourself off from your past. Karma and fate will always follow you.

You could put them in chains, lock them in boxes, but they will escape when you're least prepared, and tear everything into pieces.

The only thing you can cut is my throat, and it would be nothing more than a formality if you did so. Nothing more than venting your anger.

Yeah, a formality.

There's nothing I want from you or Mitsukue. All I want is a formality.

A letter of excommunication. Tell all of Mitsukue that Hoshiguma no longer has anything to do with Mitsukue, the Kinsekikai, or the Ao-Oni kaidan.

I see Lungmen has indeed turned you into a cop, through and through.

But I refuse. We have a better way of disassociating someone.

Cross swords with me. Rebel against the oyabun of the Kinsekikai, and there will be no room left for the Kinsekikai to treat you as one of us, no matter which one of us falls.

Do we really have to do this?

This is the true meaning of finishing unfinished business from twenty years ago.

It's just...

I rather liked this place, and it would be a shame if a mess was made of it. Let's go somewhere else.

Where?

Kajimachi.

You've razed it to the ground.

Our memories remain, don't they?

You're one twisted bastard.

Let's go. Maybe we'll even catch the end of the fireworks show.

No, Madame Oni! I can't let you go any further!

I have to save him.

Madame Oni!

There is no time. I'll only say once more. Get out of my way.

Are you really Madame Oni? Is there any humanity left in you?

Why... why wouldn't I be Madame Oni?

Shuuji is dead! You killed him!

Shuu...ji...?

You're not Madame Oni anymore... you're just an Oni... a vicious Oni, even...

You would kill the brother you drank at the same table with, and you wouldn't even hesitate, as long as we're in your way...

Will you kill me too, vicious Oni?

Out of the way... Koutarou.

I can't turn back. I must stop Kinbee, no matter what!

Vicious Oni!!!

Vicious Oni...

Go... to hell...

Vicious Oni?

Am I... a vicious Oni?

Oni?

...dead.

The Diet candidate... is dead.

This place.

I picked this empty lot by the riverbank rather than those ruins along the way, so you won't be distracted by the memories. No need to thank me.

Good timing, too. The fireworks show isn't over yet.

......

What? Getting cold feet now?

No.

I just wanted to clear up everything before we started fighting.

What else isn't clear?

Only one thing.

Where did your hatred come from?

I ran into Tetsuya at the TV station and heard from him what happened when Uncle Tessai died. You didn't have to be so cruel.

I don't know how he treated you all these years, but he must not have seen you as an adversary if you got as far as to turn him into a figurehead.

Beside, I didn't think I did you any wrong. When I came back to Mitsukue, all I wanted was to make sure that my sacrifice wasn't meaningless—

Sacrifice?

That's why you make me sick, you and Tessai.

You're a fool, and he's an even bigger fool. Even if you really did accidentally kill the candidate, did you think he wouldn't know to frame me for it, since I was there too?

He favored you, so I kept waiting for the day when he would make me 'take responsibility' for the murder.

It would have been the best result. He would protect his favorite, while eliminating a subordinate who had been going over his head.

As for that little thing about killing one's brothers... what does it matter? Who would be foolish enough to speak up, with Hannya in your hand and his support behind you?

......

But he chose to cut ties with his favorite, choosing honor over family... how sickening.

Did he really not know that the oyabun of the Kinsekikai was the furthest thing from 'honor', or did he just pretend not to know?

Honor is a personal thing. When a group of people start acting in the name of honor, they'll either fall apart, or they're just dregs of society fooling themselves.

Tessai always liked to boast, talking about how yakuza were pathetic outcasts that could only live under the protection of the syndicate.

Retired veterans, hoodlums, gamblers, peddlers, orphans... Tessai united them under the banner of Kinsekikai, hoping they would love each other like family...

Forget everything before that night for a moment and let's just talk about what happened after the diet candidate's death. Shimasu tried to blackmail me, Gouda tried to undermine me, and Sanoguchi tried to exclude me as he once excluded you...

Family? Nothing more than old Tessai's pipe dream.

Besides, is it anything more than just an excuse for one's failure to fit into society? What do you say, Officer Hoshiguma? If what he said was true, then what are you, and what am I?

If this is your idea of fitting into society, I'm glad I was the one who took responsibility.

Finally, you're making sense, Officer Hoshiguma. You have no idea how lucky you are.

You took responsibility and left. I chose silence and stayed, cleaning up the mess that you and Tessai left behind.

Are the public up in arms about the yakuza killing a Diet candidate? Then spend money, build industries and tread on your own dignity to butter up real Diet members.

Getting hit by TV reports? Build your own media through crystalline industry, and change the image of the yakuza.

People starting to have designs on your burgeoning industry? Set your pride aside, and cling to the people who have the most use of you.

Run into someone that you can't soothe over? Then there's no choice. Eliminate them.

And you're complaining about it? Didn't you choose it yourself?

Yes, I chose it. I let my own weakness shut my own mouth that night!

You chose the twisted path of shame and guilty conscience—

Guilty conscience?!

Don't make me laugh, Officer Hoshiguma!

The path I chose showed just how incompetent Tessai was, how hypocritical his honor was, and how close his Kinsekikai was to destruction!

He was an incompetent, blind shogi player who began to abandon piece after piece for his precious Kinsekikai as changing times threatened to checkmate it.

Your incident was just the beginning. The concept of 'Diet' had just emerged, and he had already abandoned you.

When the relationship between North and South was at its most delicate, he was foolish enough to buy weapons from Northern Court factions, just to destroy a gang that was acting out of line in his eyes, one that had better weapons than the Kinsekikai.

He didn't even have that much of a grudge against them, other than the fact that they had once harbored the 'Wandering Vicious Oni' who killed his family.

Ostensibly, he was taking revenge for his wife and son. And look what came of it! He abandoned Tetsuya's mother and turned Tetsuya against him.

As for me? How many times would he have abandoned me, but for the fact that this lieutenant of his never believed in this 'honor' of his for even a moment?

I was proven right, time and again. He's no more than a Pawn who thinks himself a King, charging blindly into the fray...

Did he think promotion awaited? No, everyone else, friend or foe, was walking in the opposite direction. There is nothing but a dead end awaiting him at the end of the road.

To hold back the tide for that fool, clean up his mess, all the while getting walked all over by him?

I would rather you had killed me in your madness that night!

......

Happy now? Is that enough reason for you to bring your sword or shield to bear?

I only have one question. Are you putting on an act?

...An act?

I agree that he could have reinforced his position by putting the blame on you.

I can understand why you say that the oyabun of the Kinsekikai is the furthest from honor.

I believe you when you say you stemmed the tide of Kinsekikai's destruction, and that you are angry at Uncle Tessai for being in the way.

Then what do you want to say?

I just don't know what to think anymore.

It was you who brought me back to Kajimachi. It was you who tried to make me lose my reason and eliminate me once and for all.

It was you who earned Tetsuya's fervent loyalty. It was you who made him witness his own father's death at your hands.

It was you who cut off your own finger in front of Uncle Tessai. It was you who cursed his incompetence, even unto his death.

Your analysis was very clear, very rational. I fully understood what you were saying, and how you got to this point.

But the clearer and more rational it is, the less I could believe it...

Is this really you? Or is this all one final act of madness, written and directed by yourself, so that I would believe that this is the kind of person you are?

Uncle Tessai said you were faking it when you cut off your little finger that day in Kajimachi. I didn't believe it.

But now, I really want to know... how many fingers are there under your left glove?

......

I want to tell you that the little finger I cut off had been with me for decades, but you wouldn't believe it, would you?

......

Haha... very good, very good.

Of all the things you said, there's only one that has a little bit of value.

Honor... is a personal thing.

Are you done?

Yeah.

If you've got any men hiding out here, now would be a good time to holler for them.

There's only me. No one in hiding, no traps, no tricks.

Is the life of a media mogul, a politician's favorite, the oyabun of the Kinsekikai, something to be taken so lightly?

Mogul? Not for long.

Politician? You made sure to put an end to that personally.

Oyabun of the Kinsekikai? Remind me who crashed the accession ceremony again?

If you think I've been acting, congratulations, because I'm tired of it.

I'm just a yakuza. A yakuza backed into a corner.

If that's the only death I can have, then I would have a clean death... a beautiful death.

Even if everything you've done up to this point was one big pile of dishonor?

I'm not talking about honor—that rusty piece of trash floating around your and Tessai's heads.

I'm talking about beauty.

What's about to happen may not compare to making a son watch his father die for him, but you cannot deny...

There's a beauty to a duel by the riverside, under the fireworks, the blood spilling on the banks, perhaps even a head flying into the air.

Don't worry, Hoshiguma. In the event that I'm not the one who dies, I'll admit that you wrote a beautiful ending for yourself as a yakuza.

I don't need it.

I'm fighting you for one reason. To cut my last ties with you, with the Kinsekikai, with Mitsukue and with Higashi.

Suit yourself. But how should I sing the song of your death, in the event that it happens? Who did I kill? An Oni?

An Oni.

An Oni who has lost her home forever.

I had a thought, Hoshiguma.

......

When we were young, Tessai took us to watch the snow, here by this very riverside.

I remember.

He said, don't look down on yourself just because you're yakuza.

He said we're descendants of warriors. He said generations after generations of samurai since Shigekazu Onishoubu have given their lives for loyalty and righteousness, and we are their legacy.

He said that even without noble status, without power, without a liege to serve, even without the bloodline of warriors...

Loyalty and righteousness never die. The warrior's spirit never dies.

Jingi, ninkyou, honor in all its names.

The warrior's spirit lives on, even if it has fallen on hard times, even if it has become distorted, even if it has taken on many different names, even if no bonds of blood tie us.

He was spewing nonsense, wasn't he? It was all an act, wasn't it?

......

You don't know the answer?

There's only one thing that I know.

Someone you hated so much would never put on an act for you.

Sure enough.

You trusted him, and I trust you. I believe you when you say that Tessai didn't lie to me. I believe that we're the last descendants of warriors, here in Nan'in Anzai Mitsukueooyashiro.

As for the true blue-blooded warriors whose emblems are passed on from generation to generation...

I suppose they're all speculating in real estate right now.

You... you're not injured at all?

I have a slight cut on my face.

What about me?

I can feel myself bleeding, Hoshiguma, but I don't want to look.

Tell me. How much time do I have left?

I don't know.

I think there'll be someone here soon, after I leave. I think you'll live a pretty long time.

Why didn't you kill me?

You and I, we have nothing to do with each other anymore.

There will be other people to judge you for Uncle Tessai and Momoka.

Ha, haha...

After all these years, at the end of it all... you won.

No, I lost.

Completely.

You hate the way of this city so very much?

I just don't recognize it anymore.

It's no longer my home, that's all.

Sayounara. We won't meet again.

So, you didn't see any of the fireworks at all?

Basically.

What? You missed the entire fireworks show?

Yeah.

That's such a shame... well...

At least you'll see this.

I couldn't find any fireworks that nice. All I found on Nita Street was small stuff like this...

Don't be sad, okay?

......

Why would I be sad?

I'm so relieved to hear that.

It's beautiful.

Fleeting... but beautiful.

Where are the others? Kichisei, Sarasa, Moriuchi... and Tetsuya?

Kichisei and Moriuchi-san are being questioned by that tired-looking cop. They should be coming out soon.

Sarasa suddenly fell asleep one block before we ran into the cops. She told us to just leave her there. By the time I talked to the cops and went back for her, she was nowhere to be seen.

As for Tetsuya... I have no idea.

Oh, we should also let the police know that Kinbee is still lying on the river bank, and someone should go and get him—

They're already headed over.

There you are! What are you doing? Hosting your own fireworks show?

Looks like it.

We have someone here who missed the entire thing, after all. Gotta make it up somehow, right?

(This is...)

(...Kami-sama?)

What's the matter, Hoshiguma? Did something happen?

No, nothing... just imagining things.