Morning broke over Hoshimori with uneasy calm.
The city still bore the scars of the night before—broken lanterns scattered across the cobblestones, burned stalls reduced to ash, and soldiers piling rubble where shadows had clawed through the streets. Yet, against all odds, the city still stood.
Itsuki awoke to sunlight spilling through the shutters of the teahouse's small room. Every muscle in his body ached, but he was alive. The Starblade had saved him… or maybe it was Tsukihime, or Yukari, or some combination of all three.
He sat up, blinking. Tsukihime was already awake, seated by the window with her cloak wrapped tightly around her. The morning light made her silver hair shimmer like frost. She stared at the sky, silent, her broken pendant resting in her lap.
"You didn't sleep?" Itsuki asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
She shook her head. "The shadows grow stronger with every rift. My dreams are filled with their whispers."
Before Itsuki could respond, the door creaked open. Yukari entered, carrying a small tray of rice and miso soup. Her bow leaned against her back, as if she never let it go.
"You're awake," she said flatly, though her eyes softened when she met his. She set the tray down between them. "Eat. You'll need your strength."
Itsuki grinned tiredly. "You almost sound like you care."
Yukari's lips twitched, but she looked away quickly. "Don't push your luck."
---
After breakfast, Yukari led them into the city's outskirts, where a quiet grove stretched beyond the walls. "If we're traveling together, we can't rely on luck alone. You," she pointed at Itsuki, "swinging that blade like a farmer's hoe isn't going to cut it."
Itsuki bristled. "Hey, I killed a shadow last night, didn't I?"
"You got lucky," Yukari retorted. "A real fight won't give you time to flail around." She set her bow down and gestured at him. "Summon it."
Itsuki took a deep breath. The warmth in his chest answered, and light flared in his hand, shaping itself into the Starblade. Yukari circled him, eyes sharp.
"Good. Now—stance." She kicked his feet apart. "Wider. Don't let your weight rest on your heels. You'll be on your back before you blink."
Itsuki muttered under his breath but adjusted.
"Better," Yukari said. She pulled a short wooden staff from her pack. "Now defend yourself."
"What—wait, you mean—"
Before he could finish, she swung. Itsuki yelped, raising the Starblade just in time to block. Sparks of light and wood clashed.
For the next hour, the grove echoed with the crack of blows, Itsuki stumbling, swinging, learning by pain and instinct. His arms screamed with exhaustion, but Yukari didn't relent.
Finally, she stepped back, lowering the staff. "Not hopeless. You're reckless, but… you've got the instincts. That blade responds to you."
Itsuki collapsed into the grass, gasping. "That's your way of saying 'good job'?"
"Don't get used to it," Yukari said, but there was the faintest trace of a smile on her lips.
---
Tsukihime had watched in silence the entire time. When Itsuki finally managed to catch his breath, she spoke.
"The Starblade is more than a weapon. It is a voice. A promise. Every strike carries not just your strength, but your intent. If you waver… it will vanish."
Itsuki frowned. "So it's not just fighting skills. It's… willpower."
"Exactly," she said softly. "Resolve sharpens it more than any steel."
Yukari's gaze flicked toward Tsukihime. "And what about you? That pendant of yours nearly shattered when you forced the rift closed."
Tsukihime's fingers tightened around the crystal. "I was created to hold the seal. But now the seal has cracked. Without the pendant… I cannot hold back the void."
"Created?" Itsuki asked sharply.
Her eyes lowered. "I am not human, Itsuki. I am the Hoshikage's vessel—the last fragment of starlight left to resist the void."
Silence followed. Itsuki's chest tightened, a dozen questions rising in his throat. But when he saw the sadness in her eyes, he swallowed them. She looked fragile in that moment, not like a vessel or a goddess, but like a girl burdened with a fate she didn't choose.
"You may not be human," he said firmly, "but you're not alone anymore."
Tsukihime's eyes widened slightly, her lips parting as if to speak—but before she could, Yukari stiffened.
Her hand shot to her bow. "Quiet."
The grove fell still. Then—a low laugh slithered through the air, cold and sharp.
From the shadows of the trees, a masked figure emerged. The same crescent-moon mask as before, but this one carried himself with more weight, more menace. Shadows pooled at his feet like living ink.
"Starbearer… Hunter… Vessel…" the figure rasped. "How quaint. Three pieces on the board, walking together like children."
Itsuki raised his Starblade instinctively, the light flickering stronger with his fear. "Who are you?"
The masked figure tilted his head. "A herald. A whisper. The first of many." His voice cracked like glass. "But you may call me Kurotsuki. And I have come to test the strength of your resolve."
Shadows bled from his body, forming twisted spears that writhed like serpents. The air grew cold, heavy with malice.
Yukari drew her bow. Tsukihime clutched her pendant. Itsuki's grip tightened on the Starblade.
The training was over. The real fight had just begun.