Ropes held her hands together, pulling tightly at her wrists so that every movement resulted in discomfort. She would be pushed forward without warning ever so often, forcing her to stumble in her walk. The spearheads of her escort's weapons shone brightly in the sunlight, the peerless blue sky devoid of a single stormcloud allowing for the warming air and the unobscured sun to surround her. Despite the pain in her body, she looked at the sky with a calm, if bittersweet, expression. She was almost happy that her last day would not be clouded over by a thick grayness, but at the same time, she wondered how the weather could be this fair when the day was anything but for her. The atmosphere high above them was the exact opposite of the atmosphere in the Kujou Clan's estate at the moment.

She was pushed down onto her knees at long last. Pain riddled through her body, but she refrained from grimacing or flinching. She would not show weakness. She raised her head, keeping it held high. Her eyes subconsciously found the flag of her clan lying limp against the flagpole. She didn't need to see the flag to know what her clan's symbol looked like, but she would have liked to see it one last time.

"Kujou Sara of the Kujou clan, you are presented here today to perform seppuku to absolve yourself of the crimes that you have commited. You have intentionally remained ignorant of your family's deceptions against the Almighty Shogun, and participated in the Vision Hunt Decree and the Sakoku decree alongside your clan. Your sins have been judged, and you will perform the ritualistic suicide. By doing this, you will exculpate yourself of shame and restore honor for your clan," Kujou Kamaji said, his voice calm and clear as he looked down at Sara from his position. She stared back at him, only to find out that his eyes were glassy. Her gaze tilted down to see that he was squeezing his fist so tight that a few drops of blood were rolling down his skin. It seemed that he had found a way to keep himself from acting out, but he couldn't hide that he didn't want this to happen. Sara wished she could remind him one more time that this was her choice.

A tantō sword was sat down in front of Sara. She could see, for a brief second, the eyes of the person who set the blade down. Kujou Masahito refused to lock eyes with her, but she could see it was for the same reason as Kamaji. It seemed that he was having a much harder time than Kamaji. He was her older brother, after all, and he took the responsibility of keeping her safe to heart. It had taken the entire night to convince Masahito to let the seppuku happen. She wished she had the courage to say something to them. She could call out one last time. She could put them at ease. Instead, she could say nothing as her brother's sword came down to cut open her wrists from their bounded prison.

"You may begin," Kamaji whispered, his voice strained as he forced it out. Masahito breathed out. Her hands didn't shake nor did her actions waver as she grabbed onto the tantō blade. She turned it around in her hands, pointing the tip of the blade at herself. The sun's light raced across the metal as she did, slightly blinding her as she stared at her own reflection. There was another person in the reflection. The smirking face of Takatsukasa Susumu stared at her, and Sara suddenly remembered who was responsible for this and why it was happening. Susumu saw her as a threat that needed to be eliminated, and he wanted to weaken the Kujou family by taking away their only Vision-bearer. She knew how he disguised it, too. The duel with the Almighty Shogun only absolved the family's shame in her eye's, not the people's. All those who lost their Visions probably wanted revenge, and what better way to give than by having the face of the Vision Hunt Decree kill herself for her family's honor?

Sara couldn't even fight back. She was just an adopted child. Her death was meaningless when it came down to bloodlines. The only problem with her death is that she was a Vision-bearer. That held significant weight, and it was probably what provided her with the strength to overcome her peers to become a general in the Shogun's army. Otherwise, her life was worth far less than her brother's, and the retainers had made their decision. Sara was left with an ultimatum. She could either perform seppuku or she would be executed. At least the former allowed her to retain some honor in death.

Sara kept her eyes open and looked forward as she leveled the blade to her abdomen. She refused to let her emotions rise onto her face. She would remain as steady as she did on the battlefield when she fought against Inazuma's threats. In some ways, maybe she was just taking out another threat.

—

The wind howled painfully into her ear. The breath in her chest was being slowly dragged out, not allowing any more to enter into her lungs. She felt her limbs flail as the rushing air pushed her back up while gravity pulled her down to the ground. Even if she wasn't free-falling, her entire body was already slowly giving out from the wounds she had suffered during the fight to protect her home. She could see some droplets of blood almost floating off of her, blowing away from her red-painted hands. Smoke billowed from her burning wings, the onyx color coming from the soot.

Her eyes looked forward, ignoring the stinging pain of her hair whipping her face. She could see the night sky far above her. Dozens of stars glittered in the stygian void. The full moon draped the world in silvery white silk. A thin mist swirled in the upper empyrean, refracting the light graciously cast through it to create a wispy aura around the stars. It was such a beautiful sight, the Tengu thought. She wondered what the moon and stars saw when they looked down at her. Did they see as much beauty in her as she saw in them?

The Tengu felt a sharpness in her eyes that did not originate from the wind or pain in her body. It was something else entirely, and it took her an agonizingly long time to realize that she was crying. She had failed her mission of protecting her home, the forest she resided in since she was young. Her wings were completely ruined, and she would probably never fly again. She was, without a doubt, going to die, either from blood loss or the impact of hitting the ground that was rapidly approaching.

The Tengu didn't want to die. In fact, the Tengu wanted so badly to live that she attempted to force open her damaged, bloodied wings to flap or glide against the air currents even though she knew it wouldn't work. She held tightly to the most prominent wound on her chest, feeling the warm liquid flush onto her fingers. She tried to keep herself awake even when sleep beckoned her, promising to relieve her of the pain. The Tengu wasn't going to simply lie down and let death claim her. Even when the shadow husk called out her name, beckoning her to follow it to the depths of the world, she fought to reach the pale starlight and silver moonlight that washed over the land. She gripped weakly at the light, the air pulled taut in her fingers.

'No! It can't end like this! I... I always believed that I could protect this place forever with my strength...'

A bright light began to fill her senses. She squinted as something materialized right above her. It was a golden frame that surrounded a pale gray bubble. The Tengu reached for it, and her touch activated the shell. The gray gemstone at the center illuminated with a bright purple light before dimming down to reveal the spinning lightning strike design. As the Tengu's hand wrapped firmly around the Vision, lightning began to strike her arms. She didn't feel any pain from it. In fact, the lightning seemed to alleviate the pain already in her body. It grew brighter, slowly surrounding and enveloping in its comforting glow. The Tengu felt her body relax as she brought the Vision to her chest.

Unexpectedly, she didn't feel her body hit the ground. The lightning's glow began to fade to reveal the misty stars and uncovered moon once more. They shone down at her, and she wondered if they had been the ones to answer her call. Had they saved her after witnessing how desperately she tried to live? Or was there some other force that had decided that her life was worth preserving even when fate intentionally threw her off a cliff?

Her thoughts idled, and she exhaled slowly. As much as she wanted to ask the heavens for an answer, she quickly found herself losing consciousness.

—

What happened that night? Sara had received this Vision because she had wanted to live so severely that even her Excellency, the Almighty Shogun, was able to bear witness and reward her determination. Sara still wanted to live. She didn't want to die, especially not to pacify a branch of the clan that she had no love for. She didn't want to die, not when she had so much more to offer Inazuma and the Raiden Shogun. There were lives that had yet to be saved and places she hadn't seen. Her Vision was glowing bright at her side. That had to mean that she still had the unshakeable resolve to live. If that were true, why was she so easily giving into Susumu's demands?

Sara hesitated for a brief second. She knew why she should go through with this. She saw every reason why this was a perfectly acceptable consequence of her adopted father's sins. She would make everything right with her life, and this would ensure not only her brothers' safety but also their political power. They would remain as the head of the Tenryou Commission and as an important general of the Shogunate. It was the most logical decision that would guarantee ease of life for the most people. She even knew why it had to be her and not anyone else. She had enough power that her death would be impactful, but she was far enough away from the main family that her death would be meaningless. She had always known she was a pawn on the chessboard of Inazuma's political world. Even knowing this fact for most of her life, she still found it difficult to throw her life away like it was nothing. Did her will to live mean absolutely nothing? Was she not worth sparing, not worth the alternatives? Was she ever part of the Kujou family, or was she just a lucky find they polished and showed off to garner themselves wealth and fame?

Sara's righteous anger ebbed away until she was left with nothing but a cold, empty feeling. She didn't have a choice. She was, just as she proclaimed, little more than a pawn. As if responding to her weakened will, the light of her Vision flickered. It relit again, but this time it was dimmer than before. Sara supposed that her Vision would be rendered blank, anyways, so it didn't matter if it dimmed completely while she was alive or not.

Sara hoped that her Vision would resonate with Masahito or even Kamaji. They could use the power that was bestowed upon her when she could no longer do so. Masahito was in the Shogun's army, and with a Vision, he could rise even higher. Kamaji would garner respect if he had a Vision that would make the transition of power much smoother. It would be best for everyone if her Vision did not die with her. The elemental power of Electro was a tool that could be utilized even if Sara was not there to channel the power and use it. She would rather her adopted brothers awaken her Vision than someone from the Takatsukasa family. She didn't want the Takatsukasa family to gain control over the Tenryou Commission.

Sara pulled the blade towards herself, the tip digging into the tender flesh of her lower stomach. There was already a scar there, red and ugly, and Sara found that the blade in her hands matched the scar. Before she could go deep enough to draw blood, she heard a commotion all around her. The noise startled Sara, and the tantō blade missed its mark. Instead of stabbing herself, she merely grazed her hip. A slow trickle of blood fell down, but it wasn't enough to be a major concern. Instead, Sara looked towards the source of the sound It was a young man standing on the roof. He disappeared from her line of sight, and she could tell that he had slid off the roof altogether.

"Heyo! I see that you all are having a fun time here, but I have to crash the party! Me and that Tengu have some beef we need to settle! So, I'm just gonna take her, get my rematch, and you can have her back," A voice spoke behind her. Sara's eyes widened as the voice registered in her head. She looked over her shoulder to see Arataki Itto- the stupid Oni- was standing at the entrance of the estate. He was smiling at them all, pointing at her like they didn't know who he was referring to. She was the only Tengu in the estate, and probably the only person that Itto would demand a rematch with. Honestly, Itto would be the only person to try to kidnap someone from their own seppuku.

"Get him," Kamaji said. Sara tried to get onto her feet to join in the fight, but the guard that was standing beside her pushed down on her shoulder to force Sara to her knees. She relented to sit still, even though she could see how this was turning around for the others. Masahito was locked in a fight with a green-haired girl wearing a mask. Even though the girl possessed a Vision, Masahito was holding his own against her. He was used to Electro Visions, after all. Sara still wished that she could help him out. The other guards were trying to fight the Oni and his gang members. As much as Sara hated to admit it, Itto was a decent fighter when he wanted to be. Plus, his gang members, despite how uncoordinated they were with their weapons, were surviving.

"Shinobu!" Itto yelled out. The green haired girl looked over at him before she jumped into the air, away from Masahito. She landed right in front of Itto. She slammed her sword into the ground. Sara felt the shift in elemental energy in the air, but the lightning was faster than her words. Purple lightning shot down from the sky, pure elemental energy converted into its base form by an allogene. Most of the guards fell unconscious. Masahito remained awake, but he had dropped onto one knee with his forehead in his hand. The only ones to remain unaffected were the ones behind Shinobu and Sara, whose vision easily absorbed the lightning strike.

Sara raised herself to her feet. She materialized her bow, pulling the string back to make room for an arrow. The arrowhead began to charge with electric energy until she could see purple light emit from the tip. Sara was about to release the arrow when she felt a sharp pain in her side. Sara looked down to see that her wound had torn open wider with her movements. Sara let her bow disappear as she placed a hand against the wound, hoping to slow the blood loss. She glared at the Arataki gang. "You are trespassing on private property, and you have interrupted an important ceremony. The Tenryou Commision will arrest all of you. You will be brought in for a trial to judge your crimes and deliver your punishment.

"No, can do, Tengu. Hey! That rhymed," Itto said with a fake suaveness that quickly melted into childish laughter. His gang members smiled and laughed along with him while Shinobu lowered her forehead into her hands. Sara felt her glare sharpen, but her vision began swimming in front of her. She hoped that Masahito would come to his senses soon. Sara knew that she wouldn't stay awake for long. "You told me I'd get a rematch!"

"I have told you no such things. You have harassed the people of the city with your messages on the bulletin board of your own violation for the sole reason that I have not given in to your demands," Sara said, refraining from letting her emotions show even though Itto annoyed her like no one else. "If you leave now, I will allow you to escape unscathed. I will report this as a mistake on the Kujou clan's part."

That statement pained Sara to say. For one thing, it was a promise she could not deliver on. If she was dying today, the Kujou clan would not allow her to make any more reports. Moreover, even if she did, this would all be blamed on her for not stopping the gang, for letting them go, and for failing her duties. It would be another dishonor that would be redeemed by the spilling of her blood by her own hand. It was a disheartening statement, and Sara could feel her Vision sputter as she came to that conclusion. Sara looked down at her Vision to see that the once electric lilac was rapidly fading to a dull sangria color. Sara looked over at the gang. None of them seemed to notice the change in her Vision except Shinobu, who would probably feel the shift more than she would see it since her own Vision was also Electro.

"I'm not leaving until I get a rematch," Itto said like a petulant child. Sara almost gave into his desire to allow him to defeat her and be done with it. She had no honor left, not when her own family was abandoning her and she was losing her position. But Sara didn't want Itto to feel like it was his fault if she died during the conflict. For as happy-go-lucky as he was, Sara knew that negative emotions did not leave everyone unaffected.

"You will be leaving," Sara responded, trying to look stern. She didn't know how well her expression conveyed her intentions. She could feel her face paling, a coldness settling in her cheeks. Her legs were shaking, and she had to lock her joints to keep herself from falling to the ground. She tried to hide her weakness, and she was doing a decent job at it as far as she was concerned. She had spent most of her life learning how to hide how she felt, the emotional and physical pains of her childhood remaining just beneath the surface at all times.

"Fine. I'll go. But you're coming with us, Tengu," Itto said. Sara shook her head, but Itto didn't seem to care in the slightest. He picked her up, throwing Sara over his shoulder. Sara would have fought back, but all she could do was hiss in pain as the wound in her side seemed to tear open once more. Sara kept one hand firmly on the wound to push back the blood that wanted to leak out. She used her other hand to hit Itto's back. She could tell that it wasn't doing much, but it was all she could do.

"Kuki Shinobu, you should know that kidnapping is illegal. You and the Arataki Gang will be in much legal trouble for this. Are you sure that allowing your leader to indulge in his desires is worth the punishment that will follow?" Sara said, lifting her head up to see that the Arataki Gang was following their leader. Shinobu looked up at Sara, a step or two behind her leader. Sara didn't really know Shinobu, but they had exchanged pleasantries on a few occasions. Sara would even recommend people who need legal help to seek advice from Shinobu even though everyone knew that Sara did not think highly of the Arataki Gang. Sara had trusted Shinobu to keep the gang out of trouble, not to help them excel at it.

"I had initially refused until I heard that this was a seppuku," Shinobu explained, her reddish violet eyes never leaving Sara's golden eyes. Sara felt her eyebrows come together, the pain in her side going unnoticed as she realized the weight of what Shinobu was saying. They weren't close enough for Shinobu to care if Sara died or not, or if it was in battle or by her own hands. Sara wondered if Shinobu had a bad history with seppuku that made her more inclined to intervene even when the only way to stop it would be by utilizing illegal means.

"Oh, right! Shinobu called it that! She won't tell us what a seppuku is. We want to know what it is, right, boys?" Itto said. The other three members of the Arataki Gang cheered as a way of agreeing. Sara sighed, lowering her head so that none of them could see her expression. She never thought highly of the Arataki Gang, and she certainly had many issues with their leader. That didn't mean Sara hated them. Sometimes, she was the tiniest bit jealous of how happy they could be. How carefree. She didn't want to be the one to explain to them what a seppuku was. She didn't know how they would react to knowing that ritualistic suicides existed, and that some people like Sara were more or less forced to perform one. She certainly didn't want to know how they would react to finding out that she had been in the middle of one. She didn't know if they would care or not about her, but they would certainly be upset that they had almost witnessed Sara killing herself. If they had been a few seconds later... Sara didn't want to think about it.

"Tengu, your Visions going crazy," Itto said. Sara grabbed firmly onto her Vision. She yanked it from her belt, letting the yellow bow come undone. Sara brought her Vision to her face. Shinobu was gazing at her curiously. Sara watched as her Vision relit with a heliotrope purple light. It was drawing in elemental energy from the air around it, enough that Itto noticed it even though he had a Geo Vision. Sara let her body fall limp, hoping that Itto wouldn't let her drop. She felt the wound in her side start to mend itself back together. It was a slow process that took a lot of her stamina alongside the elemental energy in the air. She listened to the Arataki Gang talk all around her, but she wasn't aware enough to understand any of their words. She heard her name (well, she heard 'Tengu') twice before she passed out.