Liberation

*five days before Hotaka arrived at Aiko's house*

Saito Akimitsu was the most respected man in Shouban. Even though it was a small town on the countryside, people from all over the prefecture had heard of him and all the things he had done for the people of the town. He had had the temple of the town decorated and also opened a farming business which had given dozens of people a place to work. But what the people of the town considered the most impressive of these feats, was the fact that he had done it in less than five years. This was the man who Daiki was pursuing, since he had been a member of the Kirai organization six years ago.

Daiki arrived in the town of Shouban by the early evening. He was wearing a big straw hat and was dressed with a long black Hakama as trousers and a light blue shitagi for a shirt. He also carried a brown haori jacket with blue stripes. The waraji which he used as footwear, were made of straw rope. His short bronze colored hair made him look like quite the charmer and his silver eyes helped with that image.

Shouban had lived up to his expectations, as when he entered the town the feeling of harmony and kinship were the first to great him. Nearly all the people had big smiles on their faces and waved at him when he entered through the gate. Before he was gonna start his search for Saito, he wanted to eat.

"Ahh, this is the best! Nothing beats some really good meat after only eating vegetables and fruits for a week" He had found a small restaurant in the middle of the town and was currently enjoying a small but good piece of beef. "I'm glad you enjoyed it" It was the chef of the restaurant, she had been surprised when the man currently eating had entered the restaurant screaming "I want some beef!!" She had first thought of him as rude but he had proven to be a really nice man. "You know what?, people always say that food tastes better if you're eating with someone, but I think that's just people don't like being lonely" She looked at him with surprised eyes, "So, do you like being lonely?" He formed a small smirk and said, "Of course not, we humans are social creatures in our nature, but we're also greedy in our nature and I rather have more food for myself than share it" She started giggling, "Wow!, I didn't take you for the selfish type, but honestly I really doubt that you're that kind of person. You seem more like our current mayor, Saito Akimitsu, I'm sure you would get along" He got a bittersweet look on his face when she said those words. "I don't know him, but I'm sure he's a nice guy, if meet him maybe I will recommend this place" "He already comes here every Thursday, but thanks for the offer" She really seemed to be proud about the fact. "Oh, is that so?, well how good for you..."

He had lied straight to her face, when he had been a Kirai member he had greatly respected Akimitsu. Even though he had been one of the higher ups in the organization, he had always treated everyone with the same mutual respect. Saito had loved talking about the child who his wife was soon going to give birth to. But Takahashi had also loved to talk about his grandkids and been nice to everyone, even so, he had still killed him before coming to this town. These people, no matter how nice they were had just abandoned them when the Kirai had started to   crumble. He would make no exceptions and no one would escape.

It was late at night and he was using the information he had gotten to travel to the estate at which Saito and his family were living. To get there he was traversing the rooftops and small alleys of the town. Only a couple of citizens were still out and drinking and the town guards seemed to be with them. "This really is a peaceful town, huh..."

The estate had a small wall surrounding it the big house had a beautiful garden to its left. There was a small pond and bushes in all kinds of shapes, one was an enormous bear roaring and another were two Chinese dragons, zig-zagging each other and almost making a knot. Those were just two of all the different creatures who the bushes had been cut and made into. He had heard from the villagers that Akimitsu had insisted on not living in such a fabulous estate, but they had all said that the mayor had to live her as an excuse to give him some kind of compensation for all that he had done for them. He found a rooftop who was just close and high enough for him to jump into the garden.

He was now inside of the estate and making his way to the house. He noticed a sliding door by the veranda and made his way inside. The search had begun, he opened the first sliding door on his right and peaked inside. A woman laid there, probably the wife, but Akimitsu was nowhere to be seen. The two futons on the ground made it clear that this was were he usually slept, the blanket on the woman's left side had been moved as if Saito had gone up. Did this mean that he was somewhere in the house?, was he hiding behind some corner? He had probably heard about the murder of his old companion and was know awaiting the murder to come to his home. With that in his mind, he continued the search. The next door was one the left a little further down the main corridor. Inside the room was a small girl, sleeping in her own futon. This must be the child he had been talking about all those years ago. "I'm sorry..." He whispered quietly to himself.

The corridor made a turn to the left and another sliding door appeared in his sight. It seemed to be lit and he supposed that Akimitsu was waiting for him there. Although, Saito had never actually been to any  missions or undergone any training so this would be a pretty quick process, he thought to himself. Then he silently opened the door and what he was met with, was the old back of his former friend. He was sitting in a seiza pose, with his back turned to the door. Then, when Daiki entered the room, Akimitsu spoke. "So you have finally come, thank you for finally bringing me to justice..." Daiki just stared at him and said "I guess you really don't care about your family then, huh?" Akimitsu was surprised by the comment, "Of course I do, but they are innocent and I'm not" Daiki always hated when people acted like this, when they were prepared to die and leave everyone behind for some selfish reason. It was the same that day to, the day when his brother had sworn to kill him. "Well... This is no good, if you don't see death as a punishment, but instead liberation... I guess I just have to kill your daughter then...