Black Bird: Volume 14

by Kanoko Sakurakoji, 191 pages

The brothers battle it out as Misao tries to find a way to comfort where she can't fix things.  What kind of impression does Sho really want to leave when he's gone?

A side story gives us the background on how Sagami (a daitengu, and Hoki's older brother) and Ayame met and fell in love.

I like Sho much more now that he's moody and suffering than I did when he was moody and power-hungry.  And that makes his involuntary resurrection and ultimately voluntary fate that much sadder.  *sigh*  The willingness to occasionally thoughtfully delve into non-romantic seriousness is one of the reasons I stuck with this series when the lead couple's respectively wussy and selfish personalities would otherwise have convinced me to drop it.  Thankfully, they've both grown a bit along the way, which makes reading about their trials and tribulations less eye-roll-inducing.