calming. Like he could lose himself in the motion.
He stopped, breathing heavily, and looked down at the sword in his hands. The weight of it still felt wrong, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it was his only option.
"Maybe… maybe it's not about what I want," he muttered quietly, almost to himself. "Maybe it's about what I can do. What I have to do."
For a moment, Rei let the sword fall to his side. The thoughts swirled in his head like a storm—doubt, fear, frustration. But beneath it all, there was something else. A sense of resignation. A deep, unspoken understanding that no matter how hard he tried to escape it, no matter how much he wished for something else, he might just be stuck with the sword.
He exhaled sharply, wiping the sweat from his brow, and slowly walked off into the fading light. The weight of his choice—his destiny—pressed down on him, but the future was still his to decide.
For now, at least, the sword was all he had.