The Spider knelt numbly before the Dragon. There were no other Matsumae samurai nearby. No other members of the Saito's soldiers.

Not long ago, amidst the clash between the two forces, he had stood there watching his brother duel Onryō. He had watched the dragon mask strike the shore. Watched his brother stare directly into his eyes as the focus within them slowly faded.

No one within Matsumae's domain dared approach the Dragon, the Spider, or this stretch of beach now.

More than anger, what remained was grief. Loss. At the time, all the Spider understood was that the Dragon was telling him to run. Yet his feet had rooted themselves to the earth. Only after Onryō used the Dragon's blood to wipe away the character for "dragon" did he finally understand what his brother had meant.

But where could he run? In this world, only the Dragon had ever given him a place to belong.

The Spider still could not imagine how he was meant to live without him.

When sensation finally returned to his mind, the Spider realized his eyes hurt so badly that his vision had blurred. Something wet smeared everything into haze, until even the figure before him — the one who had once been his brother — became indistinct.

It hurts. It hurts so much, brother. Something inside his chest felt as though it were being violently torn apart. Never before had he known pain this complete. Not when his father looked upon him with contempt. Not when his own men looked down on him. As tears spilled from his eyes, the Spider realized he could no longer remember the last time he had cried.

It hurts. It hurts so much, brother. But his brother was gone now. No one would answer him anymore.

The Spider squeezed his eyes shut and wept.

"What is it... Sakichi?"

The Dragon's voice was faint. I'm hallucinating now, the Spider thought. Then he felt the touch of a gloved hand brushing clumsily across the tears on his face — real enough that he could not ignore it.

The Spider opened his eyes.

The Dragon was struggling to lift his head. His trembling hand, refusing to obey him properly, awkwardly wiped away the Spider's tears. He had clearly only just regained consciousness. His words were slurred and uneven, his voice hoarse and disordered — just as the Spider himself had once sounded after Yoshida nearly killed him.

"Why are you crying? Are you hurt? ...Did they do something to you?" Though he was the one gravely wounded, the one everyone had believed dead, the first thing he did upon waking was worry over the Spider's abduction.

The Spider broke down sobbing before him.

Was this a hallucination? No. This was no hallucination.

Clutching tightly to the Dragon's hand, the Spider cried as confusion upon his brother's face slowly shifted into panic.

"Don't cry, Sakichi. Don't cry. I'm here."

His brother was still here. Just as always, flustered and desperate to comfort him, uncertain what to do yet still pulling him gently into his arms.

The Dragon's face and clothing were stained with seawater, sand, splintered wood, and dried blood. Cherry blossom petals from throughout Matsumae Castle clung to him in scattered fragments. Held within his brother's embrace, the Spider rested his ear against him and listened to the steady beating of the Dragon's heart.

His brother was still here.