Episode 17: Sakura

Takashiro recounts the events that took place 1000 years ago, during the Heian period. The Giou clan was a well-known family who directly served the court and was led by 4 high-ranking personages: Ario, Takashiro, Reiga and a girl named Yomi. Reiga was feared and shunned due to his mixed parentage but he was supported by both Takashiro and Yomi. They lived in relative peace until a summons came from the royal court for the Giou clan to exterminate some high-ranking demons that were accidentally summoned. Takashiro accepted the task and set off from the village, leaving Reiga and Yomi in-charge of defending the village. Before he left, however, he remarked that he would be back to witness the blossoming of the lone sakura tree (representing Reiga) which had not put forth flowers for a long time. The demon-exterminating task took Takashiro longer than he initially thought and as he rode back, he noticed a great fire devastating the village. Hearing from an injured villager that Reiga had disarmed the barrier that protects the village, allowing a horde of monsters to assault the place, he ran to Yomi's room but found her dead. He received the scar on his face as Reiga directed a beam of light while Takashiro attempted to rush to Yomi's side. As Takashiro questioned Reiga as to his motive for burning the village, Reiga remarks that "everything is already too late" before disappearing. Yuki, after learning of the event that ignited the battle, decides to continue participating in it to stop others from getting hurt. It is also revealed that Ibuki and Tsubaki are his aunts; them being his mother, Mizuki's younger sisters. Handing over a picture of Mizuki to Yuki, they reassure him that his birth was not meaningless as he is loved and wanted. It was unknown, however, why Mizuki withheld the name of her husband from her sisters and also the reason Yuki was left at the orphanage.