Useless Komainu (
Summary[]
Koyuki apologizes for burdening Hakuji, which he does not mind.
Hakuji questions why the ill are always apologizing, whether it's because they inconvenience others, coughing loudly, or their inability to work. They want to do things themselves but cannot, and despite their suffering, they insist they are to blame. While helping Koyuki, she apologizes to Hakuji because he is unable to train or have fun with her; her condition had worsened, leading to him spending all night changing her bedding and towels, even giving her water and helping her relieve herself. Hakuji did not mind; he had helped his father with his illness and he had superior endurance to most people and was not bothered.
He tells Koyuki he spends his time training anyway and does not mind not being out. She insists that he must leave her sometimes, having heard that there would be fireworks tonight and believing he must go. He responds he can simply carry her and they can go see them together. She becomes confused, and he explains that even if she can't go today, they will be on each year and she can go see them then. Upon hearing this, Koyuki begins to cry; dismayed, Hakuji notes it is the one thing he didn't like about nursing her, believing that being sick and bedridden was making her sad, something he didn't enjoy.
While taking a drink with Keizo, the master notes that the kanji for "Haku" in Hakuji is the same as "Koma" in Komainu, believing that both of them must protect something like a Komainu protecting its shrine, a fact that makes Keizo laugh. Hakuji recounts how he came to own the dojo; though he wasn't a samurai, Keizo owned the land because he had saved the owner from bandits. The man was impressed with his Soryu Style, and due to not having an heir, he gave Keizo his land and dojo. However, others who wanted the land were displeased Keizo came to take ownership; a neighboring kenjutsu dojo began to harass the Soryu dojo, leading Keizo to have difficulty finding students. Despite this, lessons with him and helping Koyuki healed Hakuji's heart.
Keizo asks Hakuji if he would be his successor to the dojo.
Years later, Hakuji is now eighteen and Koyuki is sixteen. No longer sick, she was bright, cheery, and eager to help in the dojo, happy to live normally. One day, Keizo calls Hakuji over to speak with him. In the main room, he asks if Hakuji would like to be his successor to the dojo, adding that Koyuki likes him, rendering both teens speechless. Having been branded a criminal, he could have never imagined himself with a future, let alone one where someone likes him. He realizes he is now able to live a righteous life, as his father had asked him, giving him the hope that he could start anew. Hakuji bowed in gratitude to Keizo, recalling at that moment, he would give his life to Koyuki and Keizo, and as such, he could have never imagined them poisoned to death.
Hakuji went to his father's grave to tell him he would be getting married, but while returning, he saw people at the front of the dojo, giving him a terrible nauseous feeling. Someone sadly tells him that the well they drank from was poisoned, because the assailant couldn't beat him or Keizo in a battle. Inside the dojo, Hakuji saw the bodies of Koyuki and Keizo, their faces covered and blood all over their clothes. He lamented that once more, a crisis has happened and he wasn't there to save the people he loved, even when he promised. Previously, while watching a display of fireworks, Koyuki asked him if he had remembered when they both talked about seeing them, to which he vaguely recalls.
She tells him that even such a minor conversation made her happy, because even when she couldn't see them then, he had told her she could see them next year. Koyuki couldn't imagine living another year; her mother felt the same way, not wanting to see her die, which she believes is the reason she killed herself. She knew that even her father had given up on her because she was so weak. Despite it, she remarks when he told her about the coming years, it was as if Hakuji could see her future and stated it as a matter of fact. She asks if he would be her husband, holding his hand. Hakuji holds hers and says yes, promising to become stronger than anyone else and protect her for life; Akaza bitterly remarks that in the end, he never lived up to his promise.
Hakuji massacres the rival dojo in a fit of rage and grief.
Records at the magistrate's office recount details of a gruesome massacre; enraged at losing the people he loved once again, Hakuji attacked the neighboring dojo and killed 67 of its members with his bare hands. The dojo was strewn with smashed heads, crushed organs, and bodies mangled beyond recognition, a hellish scene with jaws, eyeballs, brains, and limbs scattered along the walls and ceiling. The maid who witnessed the massacre lost her mind, and thirty years later, the records were destroyed because it was so unbelievable, it was thought to be fictional.
Muzan impales Hakuji's head.
Dripping with blood and dazed in exhausted, Hakuji walked mindlessly until he came to a footbridge. The man on it, Muzan Kibutsuji, remarks about hearing of the dojo's massacre as he didn't recall sending a demon to the town, disappointed to know it was a human who committed the murders. Hakuji threatens to kill the stranger when he suddenly lunges and impales his head with his hand. Planning to create a group of twelve powerful demons, he asks Hakuji if he could withstand the blood he will received. The mentally shattered Hakuji only replies that he did not care anymore.
As a demon, now going by the name Akaza, Hakuji had lost his memories but was still drawn to seeking greater strength, even when he had nothing he wanted to protect. He didn't want to live in a world without his family, and for over the next century, he would go on to commit countless acts of pointless violence, denouncing his entire life as "a horribly sad, laughable, and ridiculous story."
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Koyuki
- Hakuji / Akaza
- Keizo
- Muzan Kibutsuji
Events[]
- More is revealed about Akaza's past:
- Hakuji grows close to Keizo and Koyuki.
- Keizo offers Hakuji his dojo and Koyuki as a wife.
- A rival dojo poisons the Soryu dojo's well, killing Koyuki and Keizo.
- In a fit of rage and grief, Hakuji attacks the dojo, killing 67 men with his bare hands.
- Having heard about the massacre of the dojo, Muzan finds Hakuji and transforms him into a demon, Akaza.