[Fireminer]

"Am I... human?" An empty question, just like how Ichika is now.

Silence, just silence answers to his void.

"ANSWER ME!" Ichika forcefully shaking his his sister. Her sob only getting louder.

"Ichika!"

"Stay out of this, Dan!"His face twists into a savage rage. "Answer me, sister! AM I HUMAN?"

"N... Not... really..."

*GRRRAAAAHHHH!*

He lets out a soul-piercing dream. The room vibrates with his anguish. Terror fills the face of Tabane and Dan, as Ichika ripping the medical tube from his arm. The canary-yellow substance drips down, mix up with red dots.

"I... Ik-kun... What are you doing?!"

"... Die... again..." But on his first step, Ichika falls down on the metal floor.

*THUD!*

Despite the arching body, Ichika keeps crawling forward with his arms. Behind his is a thin, but visible string of blood. He is a wounded beast, limping to its den for a peaceful death.

But where is his home?

("Nowhere... Not in this world...")

His mind slowly becomes blurry. By a suicidal will, he raises his almost paralyzed arm toward a white door.

("Almost there...")

But before he could grasp his eternal rest, the door opened. Behind it, Ichika's nightmare stands tall.

"N... o! NOOO!"

"Ik-kun! Stay calm!"

"NO! LET THAT MONSTER AWAY FROM ME!"

"... So, you don't remember me?"

("Wait!... That is not her...")

"Are you... Chifuyu Orimura? The real Chifuyu Orimura?"

"Yes."

It's not the Devil that is standing in front of Ichika. Their face is really similar, but this deep, charisma voice is a stark contrast to the cold tone that of the Unknown. This is no doubt Chifuyu, the last descendant of the Orimura Shinkage-ryu (Orimura New Shadow School).

The man looks around. It's the eyes of an eagle, seeing through everything in one gaze. Ichika feels his body slighty electrified, and he tenses up a bit. Chifuyu simply tosses some thing to the boy under him.

"Here." Ichika examine the object. It's a single-edge dagger, about 1 Shaku in length. The hilt is a simple piece of bamboo. Cold steel underneath his palm makes Ichika shivers. The knife is stored in a sheath also made of bamboo. A Tantō for his Seppuku.

"... Thank you..." The boy painfully folds his legs underneath his thighs. But just as Ichika put his left hand on the sheath, Chifuyu speaks:

"What a shame..."

"Huh?"

"To think that the legendary blade has gone through the hand of this wimp." Chifuyu unsheathed the Yawarakai-Te. The metal reflects Chifuyu's emotionless eyes, as well as Ichika's desperate look.

"Better to be scrap metal than a masterless sword." With that, Chifuyu breaks the katana between his index, ring and middles fingers.

*CLANG!*

Ichika's eyes fixated on two pieces of iron lay on the floor. Something has broken inside him, together with his family heirloom.

"No! NO! NO!"

Any thought?