Shiki Bad End

It had been two years since Shiki had graduated from Gessen and finally rejoined her friends on the path of the shinobi as a full-fledged ninja. It had been lonely studying at the academy and she had to watch as Murakumo, Yumi and Yozakura all left the school behind. It was a void that even the boisterous Minori couldn't fill. By their side once again, Shiki and her adopted sisters, arduously climbed their way up the ranks and were trusted with increasingly dangerous missions.

 

At the very least Shiki wasn't alone any more and she routinely fought alongside old friends from Gessen and Hanzo and clashed with rivals from Hebijo. There was even the tenuous relationship with a band of renegades particularly the short and often ill-tempered Mirai. Being out in the world however didn't mean she just spent her time with girls from her high school days; there was a whole new cast of people entering and leaving her life.

 

One such person that caught Shiki's attention was an older man that was several ranks higher than her. Even her training as a youth couldn't prepare her for all the tasks that awaited her as an adult and she sometimes relied on the experience of other ninja she worked alongside. He was one of them.

 

They first bonded over their shared love of languages and they spent considerable amount of time conversing with each other in multiple tongues. From that point on he took her under his wing. Shiki had never had an actual love in her life something that she owed to her upbringing surrounded by girls and the sole male presence in her life being the late Kurokage as well as the secretive and sometimes solitary life of a shinobi. Perhaps that's why their professional relationship turned into a personal one.

 

Shiki freely admitted that she might only have had an interest in him simply because he reminded her of Kurokage. He would congratulate Shiki on her successes and taught her to overcome her shortcomings. Even when he scorned her mistakes it was only out of a desire to see her improve. There was more than that however: he was handsome and had a very warm, endearing personality it was a mystery to Shiki why such a man would still be single.

 

She welcomed his presence and once she was used to sharing a bed it made spending the night alone harder. The empty space just made her feel so alone and she'd recite the heart sutra until she drifted off. The times when they would find each other in their secret meeting places would make Shiki's heart race and the events that happened there resulted in memories that Shiki would keep for the rest of her days.

 

This made it all the more harder then when Shiki had an order passed down to her. Her lover would be her next target. Struck with fear and indecision she questioned her orders but was simply told she was of too low rank to be informed of the details. She would have to follow her mission or face the punishment for failure: death or exile.

 

Such a close relationship with the target made her the ideal candidate for this mission. Only she could draw him out and take his life. Shiki held back her tears and reluctantly accepted her mission. What she would never know is that her lover had unwittingly come into contact with information deemed to important to ever be exposed and he was considered a potential leak.

 

The meeting place would be where the two shared their first kiss. Shiki didn't greet her lover with a warm smile instead she graced him with a sullen look. Unable to strike she simply stood frozen until he forced words out of her and learned of the threat on his life. He should have cut Shiki down then and there but instead he bargained with her: the two of them would spend one last night together and then she could take his life.

 

He wiped away her tears and held her tightly. Eventually the realisation this could be their final moments together sank in. Shiki accepted his offer and led him somewhere they could be private. Neither of them would use this as an opportunity to attack, as most shinobi would, instead they just enjoyed being joined this one last time. Afterwards Shiki would confide in her lover and tell him they should run away together and be renegades just like her late master. Exile would be a less horrible fate in her eyes.

 

Her lover didn't agree. She watched him silently clothe himself and leave. He would force her to chase him to a secluded location and there, with his back turned, he told Shiki that she must do this. That only one of them deserved to walk away and at least have a chance at happiness and that it was unlikely he could ever lead a fulfilling life with a death sentence passed upon him.

 

When Shiki objected he cast a barrier and drew both of them inside. He flailed wildly at Shiki and out of instinct she defended each blow. Her lover was impulsive and stubborn just like her late master Kurokage. She was left with no other choice but to fight him. Shiki gave him everything she could muster even when the warm tears blurred her vision and suddenly it was over: her lover dropped his guard intentionally and took the full brunt of her attack.

 

The barrier dropped and her lover was laid flat. Blood coated his body showcasing the extent of his wound. Shiki held his head up and wailed. Her tears flowed down and trickled down to meet the blood lathered over him. He urged her to hide her tears until she was truly alone and she obliged. She tried to wipe her eyes but only ended up with her face covered in red.

 

She didn't take his head or desecrate his body by taking fingers or limbs as evidence instead she simply grasped whatever personal items from him that she could and left him there wheezing his presumed last breaths and his body emptying out onto the ground around him. She sobbed her goodbyes and fled the scene.

 

Congratulations were in order when Shiki returned. It seemed no proof of her lovers demise were needed as scouts had already relayed the proof of his demise. They allowed her to keep whatever personal items he had and acknowledged what a difficult task it must have been for her been for her but now that the ordeal is over she would be in line for promotion. Her loyalty had been assured.

 

There was countless sleepless nights as Shiki faced her empty bed and dreaded dreaming of her lovers face as he died. She drenched her pillow in tears and stared blankly at the sparse vacant space next to her.