What a guy!　(Du Du Yujin!

　That's what Stopwater was thinking as he was blown up into the sky by Yuto's kick.
　And yet, that's okay, he thought inwardly.
　Stopwater made sure that his shattered left arm and not only that, but he was also taken a few ribs.

(Du Du Yuto why don't you come and finish it immediately?　Why are you so focused on me and Shihira and the others?　(With a man like you, he could kill me and take the Count's life...)

　Stopwater closes his eyes quietly.

'Shihira you're a man now. Forget about me. I was the man who should not have had anything more to do with you guys. As long as I am here once, the darkness will follow me again and again, and it will involve you all. I must break this here and now.

　Then he stared across the piercing sky with a clinging eye that was not like water stoppage.

(Du Du Yuto!　Please, kill me!　You're the only one who can take it. The only one who can take the best I have to offer and beat me. The one who can give me a dead bird-like end. I am not a swallow-headed stopgap. (Just a water stoppage the one who stops the water that carries life, the Dead Bird's water stoppage!

　I turn my attention to the morning sunrise, which is at a distance that water stoppage can never grasp.



　The name leaked from Josui's mind is Shi Shi Shi, the person who gave him his family name, Shihei's own mother.
　After being severely injured, she was picked up by Shi Shi Shi in the cold village where she had drifted, and the days she spent with Shihira and the children who had been abandoned by the world while healing their wounds come back to haunt her.



(I was........a man who only knew how to wield power to live.)

　Stopwater didn't even know where he was born. He found himself begging, sometimes stealing, even at a young age, and just living out the day.
　He was huddled in a shack in the slums where he could manage to shelter from the rain and wind with a few children who didn't have names or surnames and who were in similar circumstances.
　Then, one evening, he finds a suspicious old man walking around the slums, and he and his friends plan to rob him of something worth money.
　He had no way of knowing that it was Evil Immortal Kun-yang, the future master of the Immortal Way.
　Kun Yang mercilessly beat up all the bad boys who were not old enough to be in the same boat, and one of them managed to stand up and look at the boy who stared at Kun Yang and raised one eyebrow long enough to hide his eyes.

'Hoho, stand up, kid. I've found this interesting. Hey, little boy, what's your name?

I don't know your name...

You have no name. I'm not sure that's a good idea. It's something you have to tell yourself or someone else will call you.

'f*ck you, old man!　I'm supposed to leave the money on the table!

The fact that you can still say such a thing after all this time is quite impressive. Aren't you worried about your friend's injuries?

No, they're not my friends!

We're just here to live. "Ho-ho, we're just here to live. I like this. I am Kovar, or as I like to be called, the False Fairy. You may come to me.

What the... ah!

　And that boy disappeared from that city. And decades later, that boy would appear mainly on the other side of society.
　The dead bird's cessation ... or so they call it.

(I never thought I'd get such a peaceful life...)

　Shisui called out to Stopwater, whose wounds were slowly healing and who was just watching them as they worked the fields every day.

'Are you done with your wounds?'

　Stopwater's empty eyes shifted slightly into thought.

''Thank you for your help. This thanks.........

Of course I do!　Give it back now.

Yeah, the money must...

What?　What are you talking about? Come on, help me out right now. A grown man can't stay idle for long. I've got loads of stuff to do.　And I don't expect you to do the work for me.

　The man said that Shi Shi threw his battered farm tools to Zhishui.
　For the next few years, he would stay in the cold village after Shishi died of exhaustion.
　During that time, he learned of the circumstances of Shi Shi Shi and his children.
　And when the request from the leopard in the dark night came, he took it to heart.
　That life here, this place where he and his children had struggled to survive, was the first place he had ever found himself.
　It was also a liberation from loneliness, which I couldn't get even by training with Kon Yoh.
　So I can understand if it's a stopgap now.
　How much it had been worth, what he had gained through his interactions with the thought and the children.

"What's your name?　Hmm, so what's your last name?　Huh?　No?　It can't be helped, in that case, you will take on the name Swallow from today. If you don't want to, that's fine."

"Stop water, you're a big boy, go get your own food. I'll share the rest of it with my kids. Huh?　It can't be helped, we've got more kids."

"Stop water, take care of the kids while I'm gone. Yuling is still little, you should sleep with her at night. Hey, don't look at me like that!"

"What are you talking about, I'm not thin enough to let this kind of thing destroy my body. I'll be better soon after a little rest. Zhihira and Stopwater, take care of the kids."



　And the night before Shissi dies.
　The night before she passed away, Tsukumi's last words to Shi Shi.

"Stop water coming this way. Yes, sit down there. Stopwater, I'll let you know.

　Cessation silently sat beside Shisui's shabby bed and looked down at Shisui.

''Thank you ... stop water. Your coming was really helpful.''

　The eyes of water stoppage catch the face of the tired thought. That cessation of watering was mixed with a hint of anxiety and loneliness. Whether he knows it or not, Shi Shi knows it or not, but he makes his voice as taut as possible.

'It must have been too small and suffocating for you here. But I have one last favor to ask of you. Oh, just in case?　I still have a lot of work to do. But if something should happen to me, take care of Shihira and the others. Don't worry, I don't want to keep you here forever. Just until Shihira becomes a man. After that, you are free to flutter about. This time you will not be a dead bird or anything like a dead bird but like a koukoku."

　Cessation's expressionless face turned to surprise. But rather than the fact that he had called himself a dead bird, at this moment, Cessation was surprised at how little ki emanated from Shi Shi Shi's body.
　Stopwater stared at Shi Shi like an inexperienced boy scared of something.

'Stop water....you are. You were my son, too.　Yes, he's the first son of the House of Swallow. But one day a man will fly away from the den........ Haha, silly, don't let a big man cry. You'll ruin a good man, stoppage boy.

　
　It was on this day that Cessation finally understood. He was no longer Stopwater, he was no longer Stopwater, he was Swallow Stopwater. No, he was able to become a cessation of water.
　Zhishui looked at Shi Shi through his various thoughts and when he received Shi Shi's last wish, he replied in a small voice.

''All right, I'll take care of the rest. You can leave the rest to me........''




Mother.




　Thoughtfulness was weak, but he nodded broadly, smiled, and grasped his eldest son's hand tightly as tears streamed down his face.



　Stopwater regained his position and landed on his feet just before he fell to the edge of the square where the Dark Night No Panthers were supposed to be fighting.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this as well.

(Thinking ... sorry. I wasn't worthy to be Shihira's eldest son. But........I will definitely protect Shihira and the others!　I created this situation with my death!　That's all I can think of. (I'll get the sermon over there.)

　Stopwater began to knead as if he was shaking out the last of his Sacred Qi.



''This is...!　Water shut off?

　In the basement made by the spirit messengers of Shitennji, Shihira muttered as he huffed and puffed.
　Shihira bit his lip and gently tucked Yulei, who couldn't stand still and slept in his lap, onto the blanket.

''Everyone, you must not leave this place!

　Shihira stood up vigorously as he said this to the other children.