In sickness and in health...

Ouka Hayasaka lay in her hospital bed, reminiscing on her life with Shusui. From the fateful day their "mother" died, to four nights ago, when she and her brother had fought against Tokiko and Kazuki, they had always stuck together. But now, Shusui was off on his journey, and for the first time in eleven years, she was truly separate from her brother. She remembered…

In joy and in sorrow...

"Do you swear to live together for all eternity?"

"I do!"

Shusui mumbled out an "I do."

Their mother swept them into a hug. "And Mommy swears too!" she cried happily. "The three of us will be together forever!"

"Now, it's late. Let's go to bed."

Ouka giggled, "No! Let's do it again!" Her mother winked at them. "We'll do it again tomorrow as soon as we wake up. Okay?"

For richer or poorer...

She and her brother huddled together under their makeshift blanket. Ouka murmured, "We don't have a home anymore."

"Yeah."

"It's scary outside"

"Yeah."

"Do you want to go somewhere?"

Impulsively, Shusui hugged her." I don't care where we go…" he said, "…as long as you're with me."

Ouka clutched at her brother's jacket. "Don't ever leave me, Shusui."

To love and to cherish...

Ouka knelt on the ground, trembling. She was fourteen…

… and she'd just made her first kill. She was gripping her kakugane so hard that her knuckles had gone white. Shusui made his way over to her. "Are you okay?" Ouka looked at him and whispered, "I just killed her." Shusui said nothing, just held her. "Killed her. A real human being. Just like that. Dead."

Shusui surprised her with a gentle kiss. After a short while, her hands found his shoulders and she returned the kiss. Then Shusui broke the kiss and said, "I know doesn't feel good, but if it hadn't been her, it would have been us. Remember that."

Ouka got to her feet. "Okay." She squeezed his hand, and together, they walked off into the night.

Their first kiss. Life would never be the same again for the Hayasaka twins.

From this day forward...

She sat bolt upright in bed, gasping. "Are you all right?"

Ouka looked to her right. A naked Shusui looked back. She smiled. "Yeah, it was just bad dreams." He smiled and kissed her gently on the mouth. "Go back to sleep, Ouka." She traced a finger along his neck, whispered, "I have a better idea…" and kissed him passionately.

Until death do us part.

"I'm checking out of hospital, Ouka."

Ouka was dumbfounded. Luckily, Angel Gozen was not quite so shocked. Angel Gozen frowned and asked Shusui why he was leaving. "I want to find my old master who taught me the way of the sword, so I can be stronger." Replied her twin. Ouka had no need to ask why he wanted to be stronger. She understood perfectly. She squeezed his hand and said, "Goodbye, then."

He said "Goodbye", kissed her forehead, and walked out the door.

Do you swear to live together for all eternity?

Fin.

HAYASAKACEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!One!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I just HAD to get that out of my system. I know I'll get a truckload of flames for this, but somehow, I'm past caring.

I wrote this because prior to writing this fic, it was physically impossible for me to read Vol. 4: Carnival without yelling "INCEST!! INCEST!! IIINCEEEST!!!" Hopefully I've got that out of my system now.

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