Gabimaru/Relationships

## Family

### Yui

After being recognized by the Iwagakure chief, Gabimaru was given the privilege of marrying the chief's daughter, Yui. Upon having her in his life, Gabimaru fell in love with Yui's kind and gentle nature towards him that he was never given in Iwagakure. Yui opened up Gabimaru's eyes in believing that he is not truly a heartless human being inside and that emotions will make him become strong. Gabimaru's feelings for Yui causes him to feel nervous and flustered when around her since he does not know how to act when compared to his casual demeanor around others. Yui's influence had an effect on Gabimaru's missions, as he started sparing the lives of his targets rather than killing them in cold blood unless any of them were to threaten to target her. Having favored married life with her, Gabimaru came to the chief in hopes that he can abandon his life as a shinobi and live in peace with Yui.

After the betrayal at the hands of his village and being given a second chance at redemption by taking on a mission given by the shogun, Gabimaru gladly accepted in hopes that he could see his wife again. Upon his journey on Kotaku, Gabimaru wasted no time in finding the elixir and was willing to face the dangerous monsters on the island without hesitation. He also remains faithful, as he rejected Yuzuriha after she attempted to seduce him, stating that he is a married man. After being told of Yuzuriha's theory that Yui may be an illusion plotted by Iwagakure, Gabimaru displayed confidence that his wife is real, even ignoring the Iwagakure shinobi who supported this theory. Overall, Gabimaru finds that the loving bond he has with his wife is his only reason for living and will do whatever it takes no matter what the cost may be, having absolutely proven it by being willing to lose his humanity to the effects of Flower Tao in order to revive himself from his fatal wound caused by Ran.

## Vanguard Party

The vanguard party refers to the group of assigned death row criminals who have been tasked with competing with one another to retrieve the Elixir of Life for the shogun from Kotaku in exchange for a pardon for their past crimes. To monitor their actions, each criminals were assigned Yamada Asaemon executioners.

Gabimaru did not bother worrying about the criminals since his main goal was finding the Elixir of Life and found it time wasting if he had to fight one of them. Regardless of the competition, Gabimaru was opened to the idea of a temporary alliance with the criminals, along with their executioners, if it could benefit him. After events involving Lord Tensen led up to the survivors meeting in Hōrai, Gabimaru and the remaining criminals and executioners realized that the only way they could all leave the island alive is to cooperate with each other. Upon their alliance, Gabimaru saw each of them as allies he could cooperate with and acted as the group's strategist, while also sharing his knowledge of how Tao works, however, when the time came to infiltrate Hōrai, Gabimaru could not afford to allow himself to get distracted on his mission by providing backup for the others and had to focus on keeping Sagiri alive, acquiring the Elixir of Life, and a ship from the floodgates to sail off. Despite this, Gabimaru does sympathize with the survivors in their efforts in trying to defeat Lord Tensen and hopes that everyone he works with makes it out alive.

### Yamada Asaemon Sagiri

When they first met, Sagiri acted as a reporter that took notes of Gabimaru's history during his time serving Iwagakure. She later revealed herself as a Yamada Asaemon and once Gabimaru accepted her offer to acquire the Elixir of Life for the shogun, Sagiri served as Gabimaru's executioner and made it her top priority to keep watch over him and made it crystal clear that she was not his ally. Gabimaru accepted this as long he could continue on with the mission.

After learning of the possibility of Iwa ninja being involved in the mission, Gabimaru tried to kill Sagiri so she would not weigh him down, however, he could not bring himself to do it after being reminded of Yui's words imprinted to him. He then becomes conflicted with himself since he believes that he will not be able to survive the mission without letting go of his emotions but is told by Sagiri that having emotions will make him stronger, similar to the same words his wife gave him. Having seen this side of Gabimaru, realizing that he is not heartless as others make him out to be, Sagiri tells him that she is willing to be by his side on his path to redemption if he were to hold on to his emotions while adding that he is no longer his former self. From then on, Gabimaru became grateful to Sagiri for helping him find his resolve and took her well-being into consideration after he subconsciously saved her from a Sōshin. Gradually their relationship with each other started to grow to where they can now have a decent conversation and fight alongside each other as if they were allies, but nevertheless, Sagiri still had to perform her duties as his monitor at all times. Knowing that he grew up in a terrible environment, Sagiri felt pity for Gabimaru and hoped in her heart that he would gain the pardon to be with his wife. After learning from Mu Dan that the Elixir of Life did not exist and hearing Yuzuriha's theory about Yui not existing, Sagiri went into a state of panic for Gabimaru's situation.

After reuniting with Gabimaru, Sagiri no longer saw him as nothing more than a mere criminal to keep watch over and smiled admitting to him, while suffering from amnesia, that she is his friend and tried helping him regain his memories so he can return back to his wife. Sagiri did note that their relationship was not so much mellow. Having decided to work together in escaping the island along with the other survivors, Gabimaru and Sagiri abandoned their roles as criminal and monitor and became true allies. However, Gabimaru did not forget that in order to receive his pardon he would have to return with his assigned Yamada Asaemon along with the elixir. Once the two separated after infiltrating Hōrai, Gabimaru used his Tao sensory to check to see if Sagiri was okay and quickly rushed to her location. He eventually reunited with her once again and sees her panicking over his condition due to Zhu Jin disrupting his Tao but moved on to ask if she was doing okay. Though this felt like a selfless act of concern to her, Sagiri realized she had gotten the wrong idea after Gabimaru reminded her of the requirements of the mission, much to her disappointment.

### Yuzuriha

Yuzuriha is a fellow ninja and one of the criminals Gabimaru is competing with to earn the shogun's pardon. They first met during the screening in Edo and became allies momentarily after arriving on Kotaku. Though they agree that their alliance was only temporary until they manage to find the elixir, their relationship developed positively to where they see each other as true comrades in arms to defeat Lord Tensen and escape the island.

When they first met, Yuzuriha recognized Gabimaru right away based on the description of his famous reputation in the ninja villages but was unimpressed with his capture. The two then reunited on Kotaku after she helped save Gabimaru from a Sōshin. Gabimaru was grateful for this deed but wanted to know why she did it. Yuzuriha requested to form an alliance with Gabimaru to help better their chances at survival. Knowing how kunoichi operate, along with the fact that she was only looking out for herself, Gabimaru was reluctant to cooperate with Yuzuriha at first but agreed to the team up knowing that she is reliable.

Though they agreed to work with each other, Yuzuriha admitted that she only wanted to use Gabimaru as insurance until she could find the elixir and told him that trusting each other was not an option. As per their agreement, Yuzuriha offers the information she gathered on the island while Gabimaru handles the responsibility of fighting any enemies they encounter. After they encountered Rokurōta, Gabimaru asked for Yuzuriha's help in fighting him but was turned down after Yuzuriha happily use their agreement to pull one over on him. Upon Gabimaru separating from the group, Yuzuriha had little concern for his well-being since and was not on board with Sagiri in finding him. It was only thanks to Hōko's offer to guide the group through Hōjō's thick mist that she was willing to go look for him.

Their relationship soon made a significant improvement upon reuniting. After his fight with Aza Chōbei, Yuzuriha did show concern for Gabimaru's injuries and thought that it was important to have everyone draw their attention towards him. Gabimaru came to terms with Yuzuriha in wanting to look after herself and had a mutual understanding since his top priority is keeping himself alive to return to Yui. At any rate, Gabimaru displayed exception teamwork with Yuzuriha in their fight against Ran and made her developed a change of heart after they were left badly injured. Instead of fleeing by herself, Yuzuriha chose to take Gabimaru with her as she attempted to escape from Ran. She also made the decision to fight alongside him despite her injuries and was willing to use up her last remaining Tao she had left to defeat Ran. Once the battle was over, Yuzuriha told Gabimaru to go to the Rentan Temple without her, but before he agreed to leave, Gabimaru whole heartily thanked Yuzuriha once again for saving his life from when they first met on the island.

### Yamada Asaemon Senta

Upon teaming up with Yuzuriha, Gabimaru also cooperated with her Asaemon, Yamada Asaemon Senta. Gabimaru had no problem talking casually to Senta and to discuss matters.

### Yamada Asaemon Genji

Upon teaming up with Yuzuriha, Gabimaru also cooperated with the second Asaemon monitoring her, Yamada Asaemon Genji.

### Tamiya Gantetsusai

Tamiya Gantetsusai is one of the criminals Gabimaru is competing with to earn the shogun's pardon. Despite their mission, Gantetsusai told Gabimaru that he had no interest in the pardon and that his only goal is to make a name for himself and paired up with him to achieve this. Upon their alliance, Gantetsusai has proven to be a very helpful ally to Gabimaru and the remaining survivors of the mission. He views Gabimaru as an "underling", which the shinobi opposes to being called, but nevertheless has great respect for him. Gabimaru is shown to be able to tolerate with Gantetsusai's behavior as long as he can continue forward with his mission.

The two first encountered each other in Hōjō where they prepared to fight. Having sensed how strong he, Gabimaru instead changes his mind in requesting an alliance with Gantetsusai and Fuchi in order to win against Lord Tensen. Gantetsusai becomes reluctant to join forces with him at first because of how he views Gabimaru's desperateness as being shameful but later agrees to after becoming interested in fighting Lord Tensen.

Gantetsusai saw Gabimaru as a worthy opponent to fight against after sensing his excellent fighting qualities and became eager to after setting foot on the island. Following their alliance, the two have been shown to not be very compatible in terms of fighting alongside each other but are still able to look after each other as Gantetsusai was willing to carry Gabimaru's unconscious body along their way to the Hōrai gate. After learning of his desire to be with his wife even if it meant putting everyone's lives in danger, Gantetsusai came to admire Gabimaru's tenacity and was willing to help him achieve this goal.

### Yamada Asaemon Fuchi

Yamada Asaemon Fuchi was the 9th rank Asaemon in the Yamada clan, the assigned monitor of Tamiya Gantetsusai, and an ally of Gabimaru and the allied survivors of the vanguard party. Despite Gabimaru initially being an enemy on the mission, Fuchi agreed to fight alongside him if it meant that he could lead him to Lord Tensen and have the chance to examine them. From what had been shown during their time together, the two seemed to be on good terms and had enough trust in each other.

The two first encountered each other in Hōjō where Fuchi intended to extract information from him instead of having Gantetsusai give in to his urge of fighting him. Having sensed how strong he and Gantetsusai is, Gabimaru tries requesting an alliance in order to win against Lord Tensen. After hearing about Lord Tensen's regeneration ability, Fuchi became interested in wanting to uncover their secrets through dissection and agreed to work with Gabimaru to encounter them.

Upon allying, Fuchi found Gabimaru to be reliable in satisficing his passion to examine the island's monsters by killing them. He is faithful in his agreement to help Gabimaru as he helped him understood Tao by interpreting Mei's words, shared the intel he gathered, and performed medical attention after his battle with Aza Chōbei. The two also worked well together in planning out the survivors infiltration mission to Hōrai. Gabimaru showed no signs in not wanting to trust him and saw Fuchi as an ally he can rely on. However, since he felt that the other survivors were all responsible for keeping themselves alive for whatever may come, Gabimaru could not bring himself to help Fuchi after finding out he was fatally wounded by Shugen but did show signs of distraught on his face for what had happen to him.

### Shion

Shion is the former 4th rank Asaemon in the Yamada clan, and an ally of Gabimaru and the allied survivors of the vanguard party. After events led to the survivors of the mission coming together, Gabimaru had to work with Shion in order to get pass Lord Tensen and escape Kotaku.

Gabimaru first encountered Shion when all the surviving criminals and executioners gathered at the Hōrai gate. Shion has high regards for Gabimaru as he chose him to work out a plan for the survivors going forward and picked him as a teacher to guide the alliance in how to use Tao. Gabimaru in turn had no quarrels with Shion and saw him as an ally.

### Nurugai

Nurugai is one of the criminals Gabimaru is competing with to earn the shogun's pardon. After events led to the survivors of the mission coming together, Gabimaru had to work with Nurugai in order to get pass Lord Tensen and escape Kotaku.

Gabimaru first encountered Nurugai when all the surviving criminals and executioners gathered at the Hōrai gate. After seeing Gabimaru's strength in a sparring match, Nurugai was confident that he would be able to fight against Lord Tensen. Gabimaru in turn had no quarrels with Nurugai and saw her as an ally.

### Aza Chōbei

Aza Chōbei was one of the few criminals Gabimaru was competing with to earn the shogun's pardon. The two first encountered each other during their travel to Hōrai and engaged in a major battle. Chōbei saw Gabimaru as an enemy and attempted to eliminated him since he was a part of the competition. Gabimaru fought Chōbei while suffering from amnesia and was determined to end his life after getting in his way. After regaining his memories, Gabimaru remembered his experience fighting the bandit and reflected on it. Despite initially being enemies at the time, the two sought each others help after the Zhu Jin-fused Banko took over Hōrai.

While suffering from amnesia, Gabimaru and Chōbei made a sudden encountered with each other while traveling to Hōrai and instantly became enemies after the bandit became hostile. They were both determined to end each others lives at the cost of their own, however, Mei interrupted their battle after sending Chōbei down a crater that led him down to Hōjō. Following the chaos brought upon the Banko, after fusing with Zhu Jin, Gabimaru and Chōbei reunited, with both of them being negatively effected by the monster's influence, and decided to work together in putting an end to its rampage.

Since they were competitors on the mission, Chōbei needed to eliminate Gabimaru from the competition and immediately attacked him the moment they met. Chōbei thought Gabimaru was strong after seeing his capabilities during the screening at Edo but was soon unimpressed with him after seeing his skills up close in their fight. Despite this, he was thankfully for making him realize that he was willing to lose everything as long as his younger brother Tōma was in his life. After their brutal battle was interrupted by Mei, Chōbei took precautions to defeat him the next time they met by storing two bottles of Water Tao within his stomach. However, after the two reunited, he set aside his revenge against him in order to defeat the Zhu Jin-fused Banko, that was causing trouble for the both of them, and saw him as someone he can work with after seeing his resolve.

While acting as his former self as "Gabimaru the Hollow" of Iwagakure, Gabimaru sought to kill Chōbei even if it cost him his life as a shinobi. After regaining his memories, Gabimaru did not concern himself with meeting Chōbei again but learned from him in how his desire to protect his younger brother ultimately led him to overcome Arborification. When he met him again, Gabimaru and Chōbei decided to work with each other in order to putting an end to the Zhu Jin-fused Banko.

### Aza Tōma

Aza Tōma is the younger brother of Aza Chōbei who came on the mission as his older brother's Asaemon monitor. Gabimaru and his group encountered the Aza Brothers on their way to the Hōrai gate and clashed.

After Gabimaru's fight against Chōbei ends with the bandit falling down a crater created by Mei, Tōma is forced to accompany Gabimaru's group to the Hōrai gate where they met up with the other survivors. Gabimaru sensed that Tōma held him partially responsible for separating him from his brother and wanted to take advantage of it in his training. Despite this, Gabimaru and Tōma had no choice but to work together in infiltrating Hōrai and escape the island.

## Enemies

### Iwagakure

As the strongest and most ruthless shinobi in Iwagakure, Gabimaru is viewed and admired as a celebrity of sorts in his village. The younger generation in particular look up to Gabimaru the most and consider engaging him in a death match to be an honor. Gabimaru did not pay very much attention towards the shinobi who looked up to him, nor did he cared whether he was admired or not. However, he wanted to maintain his image of being a heartless human being in order to diminish any suspicion from his peers of acting different from his usual self after being married, even if it had to take some convincing. As an Iwagakure shinobi, Gabimaru had no reason to feel concern for his allies and could mercilessly execute them. Along with admiration, the village chief noted that a few from Iwagakure also felt indifferent and envious towards him. There were also those who did not hesitate to question to his face if he was straying away from his cruel nature.

The Iwagakure chief had great expectations for Gabimaru after choosing him to become Iwagakure's "Gabimaru the Hollow" but eventually saw him as a disappointment after preferring married life and ordered his men to set him up to be captured by the law and sentenced to death.

Even after he defected from the village, Gabimaru was still respected by the shinobi of Iwagakure as two jōnin and a squad of genin kneeled and bowed in his presence. As explained by Kinkakubō, a hand full of shinobi willing chose to demote themselves to the rank of genin in order to partake on the mission to eliminate Gabimaru, seeing it as an opportunity to fulfill their dream of fighting him in mortal combat. When the time had come to fight him, the genin thanked Gabimaru for being the one to have killed them. Gabimaru knew that eventually he would have to face Iwagakure in the near future and found his situation with having to deal with them to be an annoyance.

#### Shija

Shija was the next chosen shinobi to succeed Gabimaru as the next "Gabimaru the Hollow" of Iwagakure. The two were once grouped together with the same batch of children who would train to become the next "Gabimaru the Hollow" and officially met when Shija was ordered by the Iwagakure chief to confront him. Like the other shinobi of Iwagakure, Shija is an admirer of Gabimaru but was the one that held the most respect and admiration for him out of everyone. Gabimaru was aware of their abnormal behavior around him and was tolerant while working together on missions.

They first met after Shija was ordered by the Iwagakure chief to confront him in a trial match but immediately ran away after Gabimaru showed hostility. After experiencing this sensation for the first time in their life, Shija was left astound and grew up developing intense feelings for him. Though their meeting at first was not on friendly terms, Gabimaru took the time to train Shija during their childhood.

### Lord Tensen

Lord Tensen are the antagonistic rulers of Kotaku and keepers of the Tan elixir (which was believed to be the Elixir of Life) that grants them immortality. For years they have been turning humans who came to the island into Tan and have now targeted Gabimaru and the other humans as their next victims. After clashing against one of their members, Gabimaru learned just how powerful and dangerous they are and that retrieving the elixir from them was not going to be an easy task alone. Though they have all not encountered him, Gabimaru put Lord Tensen on alert after he managed to weaken Zhu Jin. After making himself an enemy of the Tensens, Gabimaru was viewed by their leader, Rien as a valuable sacrifice in their ritual.

#### Rien

Rien was the leader of Lord Tensen and the widow of Jofuku. Gabimaru and Rien first encountered each other during the Tensen's departure to Japan to initiate her plan of converting all humans into Waitanhua Flowers. Rien first became aware of Gabimaru after Aza Chōbei given out his name for the I Ching and was wary of him after detecting his level of power as an "ingredient" for the Rite of Consumption. Upon meeting him in person, Rien only viewed Gabimaru as an enemy and a nuisance in her plans, but after the shinobi managed to have her accept her lose, she no longer saw him as such and was grateful. To Gabimaru, Rien was the most dangerous enemy he had ever fought. After discovering that she was the widow of Jofuku, Gabimaru came to see her as someone he could sympathy with since he is also happily married.

After Gantetsusai dealt damage to Rien's burning ship to buy some time for the survivors' ship to catch up, Gabimaru set foot on deck and clashed against both Rien and Shugen in battle. Gabimaru found himself outmatched by Rien's power and almost came close to losing his life after the Tensen caused him to fall victim to the effects of Arborification. Luckily, Sagiri helped to free Gabimaru from his metamorphosis and the two managed to defeat Rien after Gabimaru's words reached out to her.

Rien found Gabimaru to be irritatingly persistent in stopping her and was resolved to put him down by any means. Though she was cruel, and wasn't aware of his ambitions after causing him to Arborified, Rien had expressed compassion to him by wishing him pleasant dreams as he slowly loses consciousness. After the humans managed to successfully thwart her plans to revive Jofuku, Rien developed a deep hatred for Gabimaru since he was partially responsible and wanted to see him suffer. However, after Gabimaru began sympathizing with her when he told her about how he received an image of his wife's face in his mind once he had learned that Jofuku was her late husband, Rien suddenly felt a connection with him and was freed from her depression after his words resonated with the loving memories she had of her time with Jofuku. Having been released from her 700 years of grief and sorrow, Rien expressed her gratitude by healing the fatal wounds she caused to both Gabimaru and Sagiri before allowing her body to pass away.

#### Zhu Jin

Zhu Jin was the first member of Lord Tensen that Gabimaru encountered and an antagonist of the Lord Tensen Arc and the Hōrai Arc. The two ended up crossing paths after both decided to travel to Hōrai and fought after seeing each other as enemies. Though he is a human, Zhu Jin acknowledged Gabimaru as being strong and that they needed to take him seriously. Gabimaru also viewed Zhu Jin as being powerful and has not forgotten his experience fighting them.

The two met each other by chance at the gate entrance to Hōrai and immediately began fighting. Gabimaru attacked Zhu Jin in hopes he could interrogate them about the Elixir of Life but found that he could not do anything to combat against Zhu Jin's regeneration abilities and Tao attacks. Using sheer willpower, Gabimaru was able to overwhelm Zhu Jin and ultimately made them resort to using their Kishikai, which almost led to his death. They soon parted ways after Mei managed to save Gabimaru from Zhu Jin's wrath and the two did not meet each other again in the future.

After infiltrating Hōrai, Gabimaru bore witness to Zhu Jin fusing with the Banko, which resulted in his Tao going into disarray from their influence. He then worked together with the other surviving humans to take down the giant plant monster.

Zhu Jin found Gabimaru to be a formidable human that they have not encountered in years but also problematic at the same time. After their battle ended with the results being Zhu Jin weakened from exerting too much of their Tao, the Tensen rejuvenated themselves with Tan and expressed a look of anger on their face, implying that they harbored feelings of anger towards Gabimaru for being humiliated in front of their peers.

Gabimaru recognized Zhu Jin as being too dangerous for him to fight alone and made him realize the overwhelming power difference between him and Lord Tensen. Although he almost came close to death after Zhu Jin entered their Kishikai, Gabimaru's spirit was not weakened and believed that there was still a chance he could defeat Zhu Jin and the other members of Lord Tensen.

#### Ran

Ran was a member of Lord Tensen and an antagonist of the Hōrai Arc. The two met during the survivors infiltration mission to Hōrai. Ran became impress with Gabimaru's aptitude at wielding Tao and acknowledged him as a worthy opponent. Gabimaru found Ran to be a tough opponent and was forced to take drastic measures by injecting his body with Flower Tao to defeat him.

After infiltrating the Dō'in Temple (which was believed to be the Rentan Temple), Gabimaru encountered Ran who anticipated the humans arrival to Hōrai with the help of their informant, Aza Chōbei. Along with Yuzuriha, Gabimaru had no other choice but to engage Ran in a grueling battle and was able to defeat him.

Ran acknowledged the fact that Gabimaru was a strong human to fight against but did not worry much since the ninja did not possess Earth attribute Tao to harm him, nor the capabilities to match his power. Nevertheless, Ran was impressed with his combat skills. It wasn't until Gabimaru initiated his strategy of using Ran's Tao against him that Ran truly saw him as being admirable, praising his "talent" in quickly adapting to the power of Tao. Ultimately, Ran could no longer take Gabimaru lightly and was pushed into using his Kishikai. He soon grew frustrated with Gabimaru's tenaciousness and declared that he needed to die instead of converting him into Tan as planned from the start. Despite this, Ran still admired him and Yuzuriha's efforts in trying to defeat him, even if he had thought it was futile, and was up for the challenge of facing off against their ninjutsu. This however proved to be his downfall as he lost track of time in his Kishikai, causing them to be reduced to a weaken body and defeated by Yuzuriha.

Knowing how powerful Lord Tensen is, Gabimaru wanted to play it safe by avoiding a fight with Ran and the other members but had no other choice but to try to get pass him after the survivors were ambushed in each temple. Gabimaru found Ran to be a difficult opponent to face due to the Tensen's Tao attribute being Water and his combat skills being on another level but was able to turn the tables by using his strategy of redirecting Ran's Tao back at him. Although he did not bother making any responses towards Ran, Gabimaru did not take his words lightly after he confidently stated that the humans would fall to Lord Tensen and took it as a grave offence when he mistook the results of Gabimaru's and the other survivors efforts as "talent". Gabimaru almost came close to his demise at Ran's hands but injected his body with Flower Tao, using Mu Dan's Kishikai stinger, and managed to last long enough to help Yuzuriha defeat him.

## Others

### Mei

Mei is a young girl from Kotaku and has become an ally of Gabimaru and the other survivors. The two got off to a bad start after Gabimaru had her tied to a tree and became intimidating, which caused her to cry in fear. His bad impression continued after he pointed his sword at Mei to see if she could regenerate like Hōko. It was only after Gabimaru showed politeness to her when she exposed her scar that Mei saw him in a new light.

Upon making a quick haste to Hōrai, Gabimaru was unknowingly followed by Mei and was saved by her after coming close to death with Zhu Jin. Gabimaru became very grateful to Mei afterwards and was willing to go out of his way to repay her in any way. After encountering two Dōshi who came to take Mei back to Hōrai, Gabimaru could not allow himself to see this through after seeing her in tears and rushed to her side to protect her. Gabimaru then refused to have her be taken by them and also became infuriated after the Dōshi revealed their intentions of using Mei to engage in Bōchū Jutsu and how they viewed her as an object after stating that her scar meant that she was marked.

Since she witnessed how Gabimaru was willing to protect her from her enemies, Mei saw him as someone she can trust and helped him unlock his ability to use Tao. Mei cares greatly for Gabimaru's well being. After he regained consciousness from using Tao, Mei worried for Gabimaru's condition since his Tao had not fully formed. Mei also tried to stop Gabimaru from losing his life during his fight with Chōbei.

After regaining his memories back, Gabimaru hears Mei's wishes in wanting to meet Rien and Jofuku one more time before leaving the island to start a new life. Having been indebted to her for saving his life twice, Gabimaru swore to Mei that he would see to it that this would happen when the time came for the survivors to invade Hōrai.

### Hōko

Hōko was a native to Kotaku and was willing to help Gabimaru and his group with their mission by providing them with lodging and information on the island. The reason for his assistance being is that he wishes to honor the requests of those who would eventually meet their end by Lord Tensen but did not want to get involved with any of their affairs onward. However, after noticing that Mei has left to follow Gabimaru to Hōrai, Hōko was willing to guide Gabimaru's group and help to defeat Mu Dan.