It had gotten dark a while ago,
though Mikoto knew the sun was still up. It was just that the trees
blotted it from view as it slowly sank below the horizon, a horizon she
couldn’t see because she had gone so far into the forest she no longer
knew where it actually ended. Hikaru and Hinata had led her there. It
was on her orders, but originally she had believed they were just going
to wander around town. Even after they had entered the woods, she had
believed it would be just a short trek. Now, after several hours of
tramping through bushes that pulled at her kimono, sinking into soft
ground, and tirelessly following her lions, she had to find Katsumi or else she might not ever make it out of here. She was lost.
She wasn’t just lost she was also hungry. She was tired. And, most of all, she was angry. She was getting married tomorrow and not one of those she lived with was going to be there if they were all gallivanting in the woods. They probably didn’t even care, too busy with their stupid hunting trips and their stupid group outings that she wasn’t even invited to. Tsuruchi invited Shiba right in front of her, but did he think to even offer Mikoto the chance to decline? No, no he did not.
And what was Katsumi thinking? She was most obviously out here; otherwise, Mikoto wouldn’t be out here. Hikaru and Hinata were following Katsumi’s scent, so she had to be out here with everyone else, hunting and foregoing the wedding. Mikoto’s anger melted into sadness. Katsumi didn’t want to come to her wedding. She could empathize with that. If Katsumi were getting married, Mikoto knew she wouldn’t want to be there seeing Katsumi promise herself to someone else. It would be too hard to bare witness to, especially with the way she felt. Mikoto knew she was teetering on the edge of adoration for Katsumi, with the long drop to love lying below her, and Katsumi was like a weight pulling her off the cliff. Mikoto wondered why she hadn’t seen it before. Katsumi was already at the bottom, or at least in the same precarious situation Mikoto was. She probably felt the same way as Mikoto did for her. In addition, Mikoto was marrying Katsumi’s brother, that could make things more complicated for Katsumi’s feelings, she reasoned.
Hinata ran ahead, bounding through the trees and out of sight. Hikaru chased after her and Mikoto followed suit. They must be getting close; her lions hadn’t raced off like that the entire trip. Then Mikoto smelled it, something savory and warm, something was cooking. Her mouth began to water, it was past dinner and she was starving. She had skipped breakfast, and only eaten a small amount for lunch, too nervous about tomorrow and too preoccupied with where Katsumi was. Her stomach gurgled in response, as if agreeing that whatever it was that smelled so delicious needed to be consumed right away.
She wasn’t just lost she was also hungry. She was tired. And, most of all, she was angry. She was getting married tomorrow and not one of those she lived with was going to be there if they were all gallivanting in the woods. They probably didn’t even care, too busy with their stupid hunting trips and their stupid group outings that she wasn’t even invited to. Tsuruchi invited Shiba right in front of her, but did he think to even offer Mikoto the chance to decline? No, no he did not.
And what was Katsumi thinking? She was most obviously out here; otherwise, Mikoto wouldn’t be out here. Hikaru and Hinata were following Katsumi’s scent, so she had to be out here with everyone else, hunting and foregoing the wedding. Mikoto’s anger melted into sadness. Katsumi didn’t want to come to her wedding. She could empathize with that. If Katsumi were getting married, Mikoto knew she wouldn’t want to be there seeing Katsumi promise herself to someone else. It would be too hard to bare witness to, especially with the way she felt. Mikoto knew she was teetering on the edge of adoration for Katsumi, with the long drop to love lying below her, and Katsumi was like a weight pulling her off the cliff. Mikoto wondered why she hadn’t seen it before. Katsumi was already at the bottom, or at least in the same precarious situation Mikoto was. She probably felt the same way as Mikoto did for her. In addition, Mikoto was marrying Katsumi’s brother, that could make things more complicated for Katsumi’s feelings, she reasoned.
Hinata ran ahead, bounding through the trees and out of sight. Hikaru chased after her and Mikoto followed suit. They must be getting close; her lions hadn’t raced off like that the entire trip. Then Mikoto smelled it, something savory and warm, something was cooking. Her mouth began to water, it was past dinner and she was starving. She had skipped breakfast, and only eaten a small amount for lunch, too nervous about tomorrow and too preoccupied with where Katsumi was. Her stomach gurgled in response, as if agreeing that whatever it was that smelled so delicious needed to be consumed right away.
There was a glow ahead, a light beckoning Mikoto towards it. The trees thinned out. She could see shapes around the fire. Then she was out of the woods, stumbling into a clearing where a huge fire blazed and everyone turned towards her rather rambunctious entrance. Asahina sat on a rock next to Tsuruchi; Kitsuki wasn’t far away. Shiba was braiding Sara’s hair. And closest to Mikoto sat Katsumi, wide-eyed and unmoving, shock coloring her face.
“Matsu-san,” Katsumi shook her head in disbelief, “What are you doing here?”
“What are you guys doing here?” Mikoto demanded. “Aren’t you supposed to be in town?”
No one responded. In fact, no one moved besides Hikaru who padded towards Katsumi to nuzzle against her. The fire popped loudly in the quiescent scene, the only other sound being the cicadas calling to one another.
“I’m so hungry,” Mikoto groaned as she moved closer to the static group. She halted after a few steps, her unease growing as the silence continued from everyone. Katsumi hadn’t stopped staring at her, still looking for an answer as to why she was there. “I was looking for you,” Mikoto admitted, offering a contrite smile.
Katsumi didn’t give the reaction Mikoto had believed would come. Instead of opening her arms to her or being pleased that Mikoto had come just to spend time with Katsumi. Katsumi’s face darkened, her eyes narrowed, and her lips thinned. Mikoto could see the muscles in Katsumi’s jaw flex. She had never seen Katsumi angry before, but this was exactly what she would expect it to look like. Katsumi grabbed her bisento and marched towards Mikoto. She didn’t understand what she had done wrong, all she did was come looking for Katsumi. Katsumi gripped Mikoto’s arm, tugging her along back into the woods.
“But-but food,” Mikoto stammered as Katsumi dragged her away.
***
“Oh…
Oh no,” Asahina commented after Matsu revealed she was looking for
Daigotsu. “Well, I guess they’re leaving us,” he said as Daigotsu jumped
up and promptly carted Matsu into the woods.
“That’s what it looks like,” Meintaro agreed. He had no idea what that was all about, but they did indeed disappear in the darkness, swallowed up by the night and the forest.
“What was Matsu-san…” Shiba didn’t finish her sentence, just left it hanging there for the group to interpret however they wanted.
“I think we’ll be alright,” Asahina said.
Meintaro had no doubt about that. They hadn’t come across anything besides the dead Naga and Sara, so it wasn’t like their lives were in any immediate danger. Besides, Meintaro thought while looking around and counting their numbers, they still had five able-bodied people, and one Naga to protect Kitsuki, who hadn’t brought any yojimbo as he had said he would. Still, Daigotsu and Matsu just went running off into the woods in the middle of the night, and although Kitsuki vouched for Daigotsu’s abilities in the wilderness, what did Kitsuki really know about the woods? For all Meintaro knew, being able to follow a beaten path was good tracking in Kitsuki’s eyes.
Meintaro waved to get Sara’s attention. They had already sat around for longer than it took them even to get here. Night had come and nothing had happened. The stars were out and nothing had happened. Whatever was supposed to happen hadn’t, and that meant that it might not happen tonight. He began a series of complicated pantomimes, attempting to discern how long until whatever it was happened.
Sara brought her hands up in the air, fingertips and thumbs touching creating a circle. Meintaro slowly closed his eyes and took a breath. Her answer was clear.
“When the moon is full… So, three weeks,” He said it aloud for everyone to hear and understand.
“That’s just…” Asahina couldn’t even finish the thought. Meintaro was certain he was feeling much the same. It was such a waste of time to sit around all day when she could have told them to begin with that there wouldn’t be any other Naga for three weeks.
“Right, so this has been rather uneventful,” Meintaro grumbled.
“Kitsuki-san, would you care to join me for a tea ceremony?” Asahina asked. Meintaro smirked, the last time those two tried a ceremony, Sara touched everything and they ended up wasting a half-hour without ever completing the ceremony.
“Yes, I would like that very much,” Kitsuki eagerly said.
“I mean, would you like to attempt a ceremony? It will probably only be an attempt like last time. Though, since yesterday, she has allowed me to do some things without the need to be a part of it and inspect everything. But you never know, sometimes she just gets in the way,” Asahina explained.
“Would you mind if I join you for the tea ceremony?” Shiba asked.
“Of course,” Asahina beckoned Shiba over as he began to set up.
Luckily for the group, Sara didn’t seem interested. Meintaro watched the fire, and the Naga, while the other three quietly had their tea. He was a little bitter that he still hadn’t had the chance to hunt. He was also still a little bitter about Sara trying to squeeze him to death earlier in the night. He couldn’t even imagine the way Asahina was feeling having to deal with her all day, and for three more weeks. Meintaro had already had enough of her and it had only been a day, a day he didn’t have to spend every moment with her towering over him, like Asahina did.
“We should probably go back first thing in the morning,” Kitsuki suggested once the tea ceremony was over.
“We could go now,” Meintaro said, “We don’t need to be here for three weeks, at which point we can come back. And she already has a fire, so maybe she can just stay here.” He wanted very much for Sara to be gone.
“Yeah,” Asahina agreed, “Ask her to stay here and tell her we’ll come back.”
Meintaro did as Asahina asked; technically, he did as was his own idea. He pointed at Sara and indicated she stay like you would indicate to a child to stay, by opening your hands and patting towards the ground. He pointed at everyone else in a circular motion to indicate they were a group, then gestured the direction of town. After that, he quickly raised his hands in the same fashion Sara had, a circle in the sky, which was the full moon, swept his finger towards everyone again, and patted towards the ground to say they would be there. Just to make sure she got it he repeated the last part. Sara looked towards Asahina, waiting for him to acknowledge that this was what she was supposed to do.
“Nod your head,” Meintaro directed. Asahina needed to agree, and quickly, or else they would be stuck with the Naga for three weeks.
“It’s okay, Sara,” Asahina nodded.
“Alright, let’s go,” Meintaro couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He was ready to put this whole debacle behind him.
Each person gathered up their bags, which really meant that only he and Asahina gathered up anything. Shiba and Kitsuki had traveled rather light. Together they walked towards the woods, leaving the Naga behind them; at least until Sara decided that wasn’t how things were going to work. Before they could even clear the ruins, Sara grabbed Asahina and began pulling him back to the campfire.
“It’s okay,” Asahina told Sara. “We’ll be back.”
It was no use. As Asahina attempted to join his party, Sara pulled him back again. She wasn’t going to let Asahina leave.
Meintaro shuffled back to the fire, standing in front of Sara so she would be looking at him. He shot a finger towards Asahina, swept his hands towards the woods, and made an over-exaggerated shrug. He then pointed at Sara, pointed at Asahina again, patted towards the ground since they had already established that is stay, and again over-exaggerated his shrug. He wanted to know why Asahina couldn’t leave, and since the pantomiming had been working when he told her to stay, he figured it was worth another shot. Sara responded in kind, but her response was short and a little confusing. She pointed at Asahina, then grabbed at her own chest and tugged like she was ripping her heart out, leaving space in her hand to signify she was holding something.
Meintaro blinked. “Right,” he said since he had become the group translator, “She either loves you or wants to disembowel you.” He was willing to bet it was the first one, since she hadn’t disemboweled anyone yet.
“I might not make the wedding tomorrow,” announced Asahina. Right, there was a wedding. Meintaro had almost forgotten. “So, I need you to go talk to Doji Suzuka and see if she can represent the Crane at the wedding, and-”
“I don’t think it would set a good image if you stay out there in the forest with this Naga and you neglected your duties until the full moon,” Meintaro advised. No lord of a town for three weeks while he camped in the woods only six hours away seemed like a very bad image indeed.
“There could be a go between,” Asahina countered. “I’m pretty sure the Naga being in town is not a good thing either. I mean, she seems docile enough right here, and in town…”
“But her friends certainly weren’t,” Shiba cautioned, “And you want to stay out here with her by yourself.”
That wasn’t where Meintaro was going to take it, but it was also a good point. He couldn’t just stand by while Asahina hung out with a Naga not knowing if that spirit would come back to take over her and send her into some sort of murderous rage like it did the others.
“So send a contingency of guards,” declared Asahina.
Asahina obviously wanted to stay, and Meintaro could see the benefit of keeping the Naga out here in the woods. Although he didn’t agree with it, it wasn’t his call. Asahina was his superior. It was Asahina’s say so, in the end.
“Right, so it’s up to you then,” Meintaro nodded, allowing Asahina to make the choice.
“Esssara tata,” Sara nudged Asahina and pointed to the woods. “Esssara tata,” she repeated and then touched her stomach, “No.”
“No, I’m full,” Asahina shook his head.
Meintaro wasn’t sure what Sara was doing, but he was pretty sure she wasn’t asking if he wanted to eat. “I think she’s letting you go,” he informed Asahina.
Asahina picked up his things and started towards the woods, Shiba, and Kitsuki who were still standing halfway between the campfire and the woods. Meintaro watched as Sara slithered behind Asahina, but this time didn’t grab him and drag him back to the campsite. She was doing what she had done since they found her, just following Asahina.
“Okay,” Asahina said after he was convinced she wasn’t going to keep him there any longer. “We should at least put out the fire, we can’t just leave it burning here.”
Sara pulled out a pearl from her pouch and flicked it towards the fire. Meintaro watched as the small stone disintegrated long before it even came close to a heat that could burn it. Then the fire froze, well, stopped moving. It wasn’t made into ice, it was still a fire, but it was sort of statuesque now. Simply not flickering, not burning, and not fading either.
“I agree we need to return,” Kitsuki began, as if the conversation was still open for discussion. “But at the same time, Sara seems to want us to stay here tonight, despite the fact that the full moon isn’t for three weeks if that’s somehow significant. We don’t know why she wants us to stay here, but I doubt it’s to camp.”
“If that’s somehow significant.” Meintaro caught that. It was a low blow. Meintaro didn’t ask to be the translator for the Naga, but damn it all, he was doing it and doing better than anyone else seemed to be able to. Who was Kitsuki to even hint otherwise? Kitsuki, the one that can judge someone as capable in tracking, something he obviously knows little to nothing about, and also translating, something he has shown no attempt at doing.
“I don’t know, I feel that maybe-” Asahina began, cut short by Kitsuki.
“Perhaps we should return to town and leave two guards here to watch out for anything that might happen. They can send one back if something does happen, or come back if something were to befall the other. They could keep us aware of the situation.”
“That sounds like the right course of action. We might as well send a contingency in case, but I don’t believe-”
“I don’t suppose there is any way to leave the Naga here in the woods,” Kitsuki broke in, yet again. This guy was just trampling all over Asahina.
“No, the Naga is attached to me. That’s why I believe I won’t be able to attend the wedding. There’s probably no way for her to not be there unless I’m not.”
“Stranger things have happened with Spiders,” attested Kitsuki.
“I’d rather not make assumptions,” Asahina declared.
When did this become a conversation about the wedding? They had six hours to walk back to town, they could argue about the wedding all they wanted on the way. Meintaro didn’t want to stand around doing nothing any longer. He had already waited for the rest to drink some tea and now they wanted to theorize on what sort of interesting lives the Spider lived.
“I like the two guards idea. Having two of them standing by,” Meintaro stated, trying to push for a decision and get things rolling again.
“I don’t necessarily agree that it’s going to come up with anything, but we might as well. I feel that maybe she was just bedding down for the sake of it. I mean, this is her way, I guess. Maybe she intended to just wait for the moon.”
“She did build a tanning rack,” Meintaro noted.
“Yeah,” Asahina agreed.
“The guards can’t hurt,” Kitsuki defended his idea.
“Okay, why not? You and you,” Asahina pointed at the only two yojimbo who were with them, “Stay here and report if anything happens.”
The male and female nodded. Meintaro celebrated silently. At least a plan had been made and they were going to be on their way, even if it was a compromise between everyone’s ideas.
“Let’s go,” Asahina said as he began stomping through the woods, Sara following right behind him.
“That’s what it looks like,” Meintaro agreed. He had no idea what that was all about, but they did indeed disappear in the darkness, swallowed up by the night and the forest.
“What was Matsu-san…” Shiba didn’t finish her sentence, just left it hanging there for the group to interpret however they wanted.
“I think we’ll be alright,” Asahina said.
Meintaro had no doubt about that. They hadn’t come across anything besides the dead Naga and Sara, so it wasn’t like their lives were in any immediate danger. Besides, Meintaro thought while looking around and counting their numbers, they still had five able-bodied people, and one Naga to protect Kitsuki, who hadn’t brought any yojimbo as he had said he would. Still, Daigotsu and Matsu just went running off into the woods in the middle of the night, and although Kitsuki vouched for Daigotsu’s abilities in the wilderness, what did Kitsuki really know about the woods? For all Meintaro knew, being able to follow a beaten path was good tracking in Kitsuki’s eyes.
Meintaro waved to get Sara’s attention. They had already sat around for longer than it took them even to get here. Night had come and nothing had happened. The stars were out and nothing had happened. Whatever was supposed to happen hadn’t, and that meant that it might not happen tonight. He began a series of complicated pantomimes, attempting to discern how long until whatever it was happened.
Sara brought her hands up in the air, fingertips and thumbs touching creating a circle. Meintaro slowly closed his eyes and took a breath. Her answer was clear.
“When the moon is full… So, three weeks,” He said it aloud for everyone to hear and understand.
“That’s just…” Asahina couldn’t even finish the thought. Meintaro was certain he was feeling much the same. It was such a waste of time to sit around all day when she could have told them to begin with that there wouldn’t be any other Naga for three weeks.
“Right, so this has been rather uneventful,” Meintaro grumbled.
“Kitsuki-san, would you care to join me for a tea ceremony?” Asahina asked. Meintaro smirked, the last time those two tried a ceremony, Sara touched everything and they ended up wasting a half-hour without ever completing the ceremony.
“Yes, I would like that very much,” Kitsuki eagerly said.
“I mean, would you like to attempt a ceremony? It will probably only be an attempt like last time. Though, since yesterday, she has allowed me to do some things without the need to be a part of it and inspect everything. But you never know, sometimes she just gets in the way,” Asahina explained.
“Would you mind if I join you for the tea ceremony?” Shiba asked.
“Of course,” Asahina beckoned Shiba over as he began to set up.
Luckily for the group, Sara didn’t seem interested. Meintaro watched the fire, and the Naga, while the other three quietly had their tea. He was a little bitter that he still hadn’t had the chance to hunt. He was also still a little bitter about Sara trying to squeeze him to death earlier in the night. He couldn’t even imagine the way Asahina was feeling having to deal with her all day, and for three more weeks. Meintaro had already had enough of her and it had only been a day, a day he didn’t have to spend every moment with her towering over him, like Asahina did.
“We should probably go back first thing in the morning,” Kitsuki suggested once the tea ceremony was over.
“We could go now,” Meintaro said, “We don’t need to be here for three weeks, at which point we can come back. And she already has a fire, so maybe she can just stay here.” He wanted very much for Sara to be gone.
“Yeah,” Asahina agreed, “Ask her to stay here and tell her we’ll come back.”
Meintaro did as Asahina asked; technically, he did as was his own idea. He pointed at Sara and indicated she stay like you would indicate to a child to stay, by opening your hands and patting towards the ground. He pointed at everyone else in a circular motion to indicate they were a group, then gestured the direction of town. After that, he quickly raised his hands in the same fashion Sara had, a circle in the sky, which was the full moon, swept his finger towards everyone again, and patted towards the ground to say they would be there. Just to make sure she got it he repeated the last part. Sara looked towards Asahina, waiting for him to acknowledge that this was what she was supposed to do.
“Nod your head,” Meintaro directed. Asahina needed to agree, and quickly, or else they would be stuck with the Naga for three weeks.
“It’s okay, Sara,” Asahina nodded.
“Alright, let’s go,” Meintaro couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He was ready to put this whole debacle behind him.
Each person gathered up their bags, which really meant that only he and Asahina gathered up anything. Shiba and Kitsuki had traveled rather light. Together they walked towards the woods, leaving the Naga behind them; at least until Sara decided that wasn’t how things were going to work. Before they could even clear the ruins, Sara grabbed Asahina and began pulling him back to the campfire.
“It’s okay,” Asahina told Sara. “We’ll be back.”
It was no use. As Asahina attempted to join his party, Sara pulled him back again. She wasn’t going to let Asahina leave.
Meintaro shuffled back to the fire, standing in front of Sara so she would be looking at him. He shot a finger towards Asahina, swept his hands towards the woods, and made an over-exaggerated shrug. He then pointed at Sara, pointed at Asahina again, patted towards the ground since they had already established that is stay, and again over-exaggerated his shrug. He wanted to know why Asahina couldn’t leave, and since the pantomiming had been working when he told her to stay, he figured it was worth another shot. Sara responded in kind, but her response was short and a little confusing. She pointed at Asahina, then grabbed at her own chest and tugged like she was ripping her heart out, leaving space in her hand to signify she was holding something.
Meintaro blinked. “Right,” he said since he had become the group translator, “She either loves you or wants to disembowel you.” He was willing to bet it was the first one, since she hadn’t disemboweled anyone yet.
“I might not make the wedding tomorrow,” announced Asahina. Right, there was a wedding. Meintaro had almost forgotten. “So, I need you to go talk to Doji Suzuka and see if she can represent the Crane at the wedding, and-”
“I don’t think it would set a good image if you stay out there in the forest with this Naga and you neglected your duties until the full moon,” Meintaro advised. No lord of a town for three weeks while he camped in the woods only six hours away seemed like a very bad image indeed.
“There could be a go between,” Asahina countered. “I’m pretty sure the Naga being in town is not a good thing either. I mean, she seems docile enough right here, and in town…”
“But her friends certainly weren’t,” Shiba cautioned, “And you want to stay out here with her by yourself.”
That wasn’t where Meintaro was going to take it, but it was also a good point. He couldn’t just stand by while Asahina hung out with a Naga not knowing if that spirit would come back to take over her and send her into some sort of murderous rage like it did the others.
“So send a contingency of guards,” declared Asahina.
Asahina obviously wanted to stay, and Meintaro could see the benefit of keeping the Naga out here in the woods. Although he didn’t agree with it, it wasn’t his call. Asahina was his superior. It was Asahina’s say so, in the end.
“Right, so it’s up to you then,” Meintaro nodded, allowing Asahina to make the choice.
“Esssara tata,” Sara nudged Asahina and pointed to the woods. “Esssara tata,” she repeated and then touched her stomach, “No.”
“No, I’m full,” Asahina shook his head.
Meintaro wasn’t sure what Sara was doing, but he was pretty sure she wasn’t asking if he wanted to eat. “I think she’s letting you go,” he informed Asahina.
Asahina picked up his things and started towards the woods, Shiba, and Kitsuki who were still standing halfway between the campfire and the woods. Meintaro watched as Sara slithered behind Asahina, but this time didn’t grab him and drag him back to the campsite. She was doing what she had done since they found her, just following Asahina.
“Okay,” Asahina said after he was convinced she wasn’t going to keep him there any longer. “We should at least put out the fire, we can’t just leave it burning here.”
Sara pulled out a pearl from her pouch and flicked it towards the fire. Meintaro watched as the small stone disintegrated long before it even came close to a heat that could burn it. Then the fire froze, well, stopped moving. It wasn’t made into ice, it was still a fire, but it was sort of statuesque now. Simply not flickering, not burning, and not fading either.
“I agree we need to return,” Kitsuki began, as if the conversation was still open for discussion. “But at the same time, Sara seems to want us to stay here tonight, despite the fact that the full moon isn’t for three weeks if that’s somehow significant. We don’t know why she wants us to stay here, but I doubt it’s to camp.”
“If that’s somehow significant.” Meintaro caught that. It was a low blow. Meintaro didn’t ask to be the translator for the Naga, but damn it all, he was doing it and doing better than anyone else seemed to be able to. Who was Kitsuki to even hint otherwise? Kitsuki, the one that can judge someone as capable in tracking, something he obviously knows little to nothing about, and also translating, something he has shown no attempt at doing.
“I don’t know, I feel that maybe-” Asahina began, cut short by Kitsuki.
“Perhaps we should return to town and leave two guards here to watch out for anything that might happen. They can send one back if something does happen, or come back if something were to befall the other. They could keep us aware of the situation.”
“That sounds like the right course of action. We might as well send a contingency in case, but I don’t believe-”
“I don’t suppose there is any way to leave the Naga here in the woods,” Kitsuki broke in, yet again. This guy was just trampling all over Asahina.
“No, the Naga is attached to me. That’s why I believe I won’t be able to attend the wedding. There’s probably no way for her to not be there unless I’m not.”
“Stranger things have happened with Spiders,” attested Kitsuki.
“I’d rather not make assumptions,” Asahina declared.
When did this become a conversation about the wedding? They had six hours to walk back to town, they could argue about the wedding all they wanted on the way. Meintaro didn’t want to stand around doing nothing any longer. He had already waited for the rest to drink some tea and now they wanted to theorize on what sort of interesting lives the Spider lived.
“I like the two guards idea. Having two of them standing by,” Meintaro stated, trying to push for a decision and get things rolling again.
“I don’t necessarily agree that it’s going to come up with anything, but we might as well. I feel that maybe she was just bedding down for the sake of it. I mean, this is her way, I guess. Maybe she intended to just wait for the moon.”
“She did build a tanning rack,” Meintaro noted.
“Yeah,” Asahina agreed.
“The guards can’t hurt,” Kitsuki defended his idea.
“Okay, why not? You and you,” Asahina pointed at the only two yojimbo who were with them, “Stay here and report if anything happens.”
The male and female nodded. Meintaro celebrated silently. At least a plan had been made and they were going to be on their way, even if it was a compromise between everyone’s ideas.
“Let’s go,” Asahina said as he began stomping through the woods, Sara following right behind him.
***
Katsumi
dragged Mikoto through town. She didn’t let go of her for one instance.
Not when they were stumbling through the forest, not when they made it
to the even landscape outside the woods, and definitely not now that
they had returned to town and were heading straight for their shared
house. She didn’t plan to let go until Mikoto was in her room where she
belonged. Even then, she was going to make sure she stayed there,
because Mikoto obviously needed someone to keep her in line.
She was livid. How could Mikoto do this to her? How could she do this to Yanagi? Did she really have so little consideration for others that she was willing to throw duty and honor aside for an adventure through the woods on the night before her wedding just so she could see the people she sees everyday? Did she honestly not understand the slap in the face she had just inflicted on Katsumi and her family? And now Katsumi had to go back to town to fix it, leaving Kitsuki behind to fend for himself, shirking her duties and disgracing her own honor to prevent Mikoto from publicly humiliating Katsumi’s family. This did not bode well for Mikoto’s future in the clan. Not at all.
Katsumi opened the door to Mikoto’s room and pushed her inside. She didn’t breathe a word, worried she would allow the full force of her fury out if she opened her mouth. That would not solve anything, in fact, it would then create a much bigger problem, one Katsumi knew she couldn’t fix as easily as returning her sister-to-be to her room. So she stayed silent, pressing her lips and clenching her jaw until it ached. She slammed Mikoto’s door and dropped to the floor, sitting cross-legged and leaning against the door to prevent it from opening. If Katsumi had to sit there the rest of the morning in order to keep Mikoto from running off again, she would. And sit, Katsumi did.
It was probably only a matter of minutes when Katsumi felt the door slide against her back, being opened from inside. She sat forward to allow it to pass by unobstructed by her and peered over her shoulder at Mikoto, who looked down at her with the pleading eyes and a pouting mouth. She was still beautiful even in her distressed state, but her looks weren’t going to get her through everything in life, they most definitely wouldn’t get her through this. Katsumi turned before Mikoto could say anything.
“Go to sleep,” Katsumi commanded.
“But I’m hungry,” Mikoto whined.
It didn’t matter to Katsumi. Missing one meal wasn’t going to kill Mikoto. Missing her own wedding might. There was no way Katsumi was going to let Mikoto out so she could make another dash out to the woods to visit with everyone. No, that wasn’t going to be happening. Katsumi reached behind her, twisting to see the handle of the door and pushed it closed once more. She leaned against it again and pulled out the bone she had been working on hours ago, before this whole fiasco had taken place.
It was half past an hour when the front door opened and in trudged Kitsuki, Tsuruchi, and Shiba, looking weary but otherwise in good health. That was a relief; at least something was going right for a change. After yesterday’s discovery in the woods, then the smoke monster in Katsumi’s room, Kitsuki’s admission this morning about his deal with Negisa last night, and now this with Mikoto, something needed to work out in Katsumi’s favor. No one said anything as they split up, each heading into their own rooms. Shiba, however, did stare at Katsumi in that confused way Shiba often looked at her. But whatever it was this time must have passed because Shiba disappeared into her room without attempting any sort of stuttering and stumbling conversation with Katsumi. That was also a relief; Katsumi wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone. So she whittled away at her bones, carving them into shape and etching in their markings.
It was maybe another half-hour when a pair of feet came into view and stopped in front of Katsumi. Katsumi stopped what she was working on and followed the feet up to a split leg dress in the colors of the Spider, and even though she didn’t want to go any further, Katsumi glanced at Negisa’s extremely annoyed face glaring down at her. Obviously, word had gotten around quickly for the middle of the night. Here it was, nearly four, only hours before dawn, and Negisa was already informed and in a mood Katsumi knew not to provoke. Short answers; don’t get involved, Katsumi reminded herself. She didn’t want to be caught in the middle simply because she was literally sitting in the middle at the moment.
“Dear Sister,” Negisa said, not even offering her wicked smile that usually came with those words. That was a bad sign.
“She’s inside,” Katsumi declared scrambling out of the way of Negisa’s path. She watched as Negisa opened the door, stepped inside, and slid it shut, not saying another word.
She was livid. How could Mikoto do this to her? How could she do this to Yanagi? Did she really have so little consideration for others that she was willing to throw duty and honor aside for an adventure through the woods on the night before her wedding just so she could see the people she sees everyday? Did she honestly not understand the slap in the face she had just inflicted on Katsumi and her family? And now Katsumi had to go back to town to fix it, leaving Kitsuki behind to fend for himself, shirking her duties and disgracing her own honor to prevent Mikoto from publicly humiliating Katsumi’s family. This did not bode well for Mikoto’s future in the clan. Not at all.
Katsumi opened the door to Mikoto’s room and pushed her inside. She didn’t breathe a word, worried she would allow the full force of her fury out if she opened her mouth. That would not solve anything, in fact, it would then create a much bigger problem, one Katsumi knew she couldn’t fix as easily as returning her sister-to-be to her room. So she stayed silent, pressing her lips and clenching her jaw until it ached. She slammed Mikoto’s door and dropped to the floor, sitting cross-legged and leaning against the door to prevent it from opening. If Katsumi had to sit there the rest of the morning in order to keep Mikoto from running off again, she would. And sit, Katsumi did.
It was probably only a matter of minutes when Katsumi felt the door slide against her back, being opened from inside. She sat forward to allow it to pass by unobstructed by her and peered over her shoulder at Mikoto, who looked down at her with the pleading eyes and a pouting mouth. She was still beautiful even in her distressed state, but her looks weren’t going to get her through everything in life, they most definitely wouldn’t get her through this. Katsumi turned before Mikoto could say anything.
“Go to sleep,” Katsumi commanded.
“But I’m hungry,” Mikoto whined.
It didn’t matter to Katsumi. Missing one meal wasn’t going to kill Mikoto. Missing her own wedding might. There was no way Katsumi was going to let Mikoto out so she could make another dash out to the woods to visit with everyone. No, that wasn’t going to be happening. Katsumi reached behind her, twisting to see the handle of the door and pushed it closed once more. She leaned against it again and pulled out the bone she had been working on hours ago, before this whole fiasco had taken place.
It was half past an hour when the front door opened and in trudged Kitsuki, Tsuruchi, and Shiba, looking weary but otherwise in good health. That was a relief; at least something was going right for a change. After yesterday’s discovery in the woods, then the smoke monster in Katsumi’s room, Kitsuki’s admission this morning about his deal with Negisa last night, and now this with Mikoto, something needed to work out in Katsumi’s favor. No one said anything as they split up, each heading into their own rooms. Shiba, however, did stare at Katsumi in that confused way Shiba often looked at her. But whatever it was this time must have passed because Shiba disappeared into her room without attempting any sort of stuttering and stumbling conversation with Katsumi. That was also a relief; Katsumi wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone. So she whittled away at her bones, carving them into shape and etching in their markings.
It was maybe another half-hour when a pair of feet came into view and stopped in front of Katsumi. Katsumi stopped what she was working on and followed the feet up to a split leg dress in the colors of the Spider, and even though she didn’t want to go any further, Katsumi glanced at Negisa’s extremely annoyed face glaring down at her. Obviously, word had gotten around quickly for the middle of the night. Here it was, nearly four, only hours before dawn, and Negisa was already informed and in a mood Katsumi knew not to provoke. Short answers; don’t get involved, Katsumi reminded herself. She didn’t want to be caught in the middle simply because she was literally sitting in the middle at the moment.
“Dear Sister,” Negisa said, not even offering her wicked smile that usually came with those words. That was a bad sign.
“She’s inside,” Katsumi declared scrambling out of the way of Negisa’s path. She watched as Negisa opened the door, stepped inside, and slid it shut, not saying another word.
***
Kyuzo
was tired and walking through the woods hadn’t helped matters.
Yesterday Sara had followed them back to town, and he had received very
little sleep that night for several reasons. Now, the following night,
he spent the entire time he should be sleeping walking back to town with
Kitsuki, Tsuruchi, and Shiba. And, of course, Sara was there as well.
The trek to and from that ancient circle of ruins was a long one, and
proved to be fruitless, at least for tonight. Apparently, the full moon
was when they needed to return, but it would have been nice to know that
before he spent his day, and night, stumbling amongst the trees and
bushes. The wedding tomorrow was sure to be late morning, close to
midday, which meant he wouldn’t get a full night’s rest yet again. And
even less considering he still had to figure out what to do with Sara
during the wedding, if he could even manage to separate her from him so
he could attend.
Waiting so long before they made the trip back to town now seemed silly. He hadn’t planned on returning in the middle of the night, but then again, he had hoped something would have happened long before they realized nothing was going to. In Kyuzo’s mind, he had believed they would be done before evening and already back and probably in bed by now. When evening wore onto night, and still nothing happened, he believed it would come to pass during the night and he could start back first thing in the morning in order to attend the wedding without Sara. But things weren’t working out as he had planned. Sara was still trailing behind him, they didn’t meet any other Naga, and even worse, they learned the opportunity wouldn’t arrive until the full moon, three weeks away.
What was he going to do about the wedding? He was the lord of the town, and Matsu was one of his direct subordinates, so he had to show or it would be a seen as an insult, and that was the last thing he needed right now. It seemed no one had the answers for him, not even the Phoenix, who Kyuzo was sure would know something, but after talking with Asako Yuji, it turned out they knew even less than Kitsuki, who also couldn’t solve the issue with the Naga. Then it occurred to him, if there was anyone who had the answers to everything, it was Soshi, or the other Soshi, either way, their pooled knowledge and network of Scorpion seemed to always provide Kyuzo with what he needed. They should have some sort of idea of what to do with Sara so he could save face and attend the wedding.
He broke away from the group when they hit town, determined to find Soshi and seek her advice on the matter. As it turned out, Soshi was occupying a house not far from the center of town, not far from his house. It was strange with her being so close and he had never known it before. However, at the moment, it seemed trivial since he had much more pressing matters to address. He rapped the door and waited, well aware of the hour and how inconvenient his visit would be. It was no surprise when several minutes passed before a servant girl answered the door, cautiously opening it and looking as if she just awoke.
“Asahina-sama,” the servant said with shocked.
“Please, I need to speak with Soshi-san,” Kyuzo informed her hoping the hour wouldn’t prevent her from waking Soshi.
The girl repressed a yawn and considered the request. “May I inquire what this is about?”
“It is kind of an emergency situation. It has to do with the wedding today.”
“Of course, Lord Asahina,” She nodded and shut the door.
Kyuzo waited for what seemed like hours; the seconds feeling like minutes, and every minute ticking by stretching time into hours. The door glided open again, Kyuzo half-expecting to see the tired face of the woman who had answered, instead both Soshis greeted him simultaneously. It obviously hadn’t been long since the servant had left him, because neither Soshi was dressed in anything more than their nightclothes, sheer, lacy cloth that did little to cover their bodies or protect their modesty.
“Lord Asahina, how may we assist you?” They chorused in their synchronous manner.
“First and foremost, I beg your forgiveness for the ungodly hour,” Kyuzo apologized.
“No forgiveness is needed,” the Soshis concurrently informed him.
“I have this Naga situation, and the wedding is today, and I need someone to represent me at the wedding because I can’t just not go.”
“Why would you not go, Lord Asahina?”
“I don’t want to bring the Naga to the wedding, and it seems impossible to separate her from my person, so that leaves me with not attending,” Kyuzo explained.
“Is there a reason you would not want to bring the Naga to the wedding?”
“I just, I’ve never been confronted with this protocol, and I don’t want to overstep any bounds. I don’t know… I will take your advice on this.” It’s not like Naga were common, so there weren’t any rules when it came to how to deal with them and attend a wedding. But the Soshis, they always seemed to know the answer to things. Kyuzo knew they were aware of much more than they let on, with the hints that they dropped from time to time.
“Please, come inside, Lord Asahina.”
Kyuzo nodded and stepped inside the house. Strangely, though, Sara didn’t enter. She waited outside the threshold and cocked her head to the side as Soshi closed the door on her. In the receiving room was a large round table, and placed in clear view laid a pillow made in white and blue. It was decorated with cranes and Kyuzo had a feeling it had been put there specifically for him. Of course, it would be rude not to take his designated seat, and so he did while the Soshis sat next to him on either side.
“Lord Asahina,” Soshi to his right said. “I believe it is time for a history lesson for you.” They didn’t switch their sentence between the two of them. It was just one Soshi who spoke, a great relief for the time of night it was.
“During the time of Oblivion’s Gate, and the Clan Wars, and the time between, the Naga fought the Foul, at least, that is what they call it. The Foul is anything tainted, or corrupted, which includes Shadow Corruption, the Taint from the Shadowlands, and anything else along those lines. They fought the Foul vehemently.”
Kyuzo understood bits and pieces of what Soshi was saying. He knew of the Taint, at least that people could be tainted, just not exactly how or why. He knew some good people became tainted, ruling out that only the wicked harbored Taint. However, Shadow Corruption, that was something new and foreign. He had never heard of whatever that was. Moreover, Soshi had indicated that even more than those two things were grouped into the Foul that the Naga fought. He nodded for her to keep going.
“Now, a little known secret outside the Spider clan to few other people, the Naga taught the Spider something. It’s a gift, or a trick. A way to rid people of the Taint. The way to do this is almost impossible to live through, but if you make it, and you survive, the Taint is gone completely.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” Kyuzo believed it to be a good thing. It indicated that the Naga and the Spider had some dealings at some point in time, and they taught them how to rid themselves of Taint.
“It is. However, the Naga fight everything that we hate. Everything that we fight against, they too, combat.”
“So we have the same goals. Okay. But is that widely known?”
“No, not entirely,” Soshi shook her head. “But the reason this is important is because of who they fought.”
“From the way you say that, I imagine it was the Empire,” Kyuzo cringed; he didn’t want to hear that he had brought a Naga into town and they- she was their enemy.
“It was the Empire, at least part of it. However, at the time they were not part of the Empire. That’s been a recent occurrence. We’ll say five months, maybe six months time since the Empress’ decree.”
“So, the Spider,” Kyuzo concluded. Soshi had led him right to the answer, and the reason a Naga at the wedding might be a very bad idea.
“Yes,” Soshi nodded slowly.
“This lesson has been informative, but it hasn’t helped me in what to do about the wedding. So I ask again, do you have any advice to offer?”
“We suggest you bring the Naga, however, if you know of anyone who might harbor enough of the Taint to react to jade, it would be a good idea to not have them anywhere near the Naga.”
Kyuzo rubbed his neck, uncertain how to proceed from here. He hadn’t been told anyone was tainted when he took over the town, and although there have been an awful lot of Spider who have come since then, all the Spider had been tested before they were allowed in the Empire. Perhaps Soshi was insinuating that one, or many of them were tainted. Maybe they knew something he didn’t. Alternatively, maybe they believed he knew something they didn’t.
“Why would you think I have knowledge of that?” Kyuzo probed, seeing what direction they were coming from.
“There’s always the possibility. There are always secrets people have that even we don’t know.” Soshi kept her gaze steady, unblinking, watching Kyuzo intently.
“Alright,” Kyuzo said moving the conversation along, “I suppose everything is going according to plan with the wedding?”
“Of course,” Soshi to his left said,” Well… other than the bride returning in the middle of the night for reasons unknown. We have had the scout placed on her flogged.”
“I’ll just keep things going according to plan and excuse myself so I can get some rest,” Kyuzo rose and moved to the door to let himself out.
The Soshis rose in tandem, returning to their synchronic behavior, “Lord Asahina, feel free to stop by anytime you wish.”
He nodded and opened the door to find Sara still waiting for him. Kyuzo had little doubt she would be anywhere else. She followed him back to his house, to his room, where he readied for bed and made plans to sleep in past the sunrise.
Waiting so long before they made the trip back to town now seemed silly. He hadn’t planned on returning in the middle of the night, but then again, he had hoped something would have happened long before they realized nothing was going to. In Kyuzo’s mind, he had believed they would be done before evening and already back and probably in bed by now. When evening wore onto night, and still nothing happened, he believed it would come to pass during the night and he could start back first thing in the morning in order to attend the wedding without Sara. But things weren’t working out as he had planned. Sara was still trailing behind him, they didn’t meet any other Naga, and even worse, they learned the opportunity wouldn’t arrive until the full moon, three weeks away.
What was he going to do about the wedding? He was the lord of the town, and Matsu was one of his direct subordinates, so he had to show or it would be a seen as an insult, and that was the last thing he needed right now. It seemed no one had the answers for him, not even the Phoenix, who Kyuzo was sure would know something, but after talking with Asako Yuji, it turned out they knew even less than Kitsuki, who also couldn’t solve the issue with the Naga. Then it occurred to him, if there was anyone who had the answers to everything, it was Soshi, or the other Soshi, either way, their pooled knowledge and network of Scorpion seemed to always provide Kyuzo with what he needed. They should have some sort of idea of what to do with Sara so he could save face and attend the wedding.
He broke away from the group when they hit town, determined to find Soshi and seek her advice on the matter. As it turned out, Soshi was occupying a house not far from the center of town, not far from his house. It was strange with her being so close and he had never known it before. However, at the moment, it seemed trivial since he had much more pressing matters to address. He rapped the door and waited, well aware of the hour and how inconvenient his visit would be. It was no surprise when several minutes passed before a servant girl answered the door, cautiously opening it and looking as if she just awoke.
“Asahina-sama,” the servant said with shocked.
“Please, I need to speak with Soshi-san,” Kyuzo informed her hoping the hour wouldn’t prevent her from waking Soshi.
The girl repressed a yawn and considered the request. “May I inquire what this is about?”
“It is kind of an emergency situation. It has to do with the wedding today.”
“Of course, Lord Asahina,” She nodded and shut the door.
Kyuzo waited for what seemed like hours; the seconds feeling like minutes, and every minute ticking by stretching time into hours. The door glided open again, Kyuzo half-expecting to see the tired face of the woman who had answered, instead both Soshis greeted him simultaneously. It obviously hadn’t been long since the servant had left him, because neither Soshi was dressed in anything more than their nightclothes, sheer, lacy cloth that did little to cover their bodies or protect their modesty.
“Lord Asahina, how may we assist you?” They chorused in their synchronous manner.
“First and foremost, I beg your forgiveness for the ungodly hour,” Kyuzo apologized.
“No forgiveness is needed,” the Soshis concurrently informed him.
“I have this Naga situation, and the wedding is today, and I need someone to represent me at the wedding because I can’t just not go.”
“Why would you not go, Lord Asahina?”
“I don’t want to bring the Naga to the wedding, and it seems impossible to separate her from my person, so that leaves me with not attending,” Kyuzo explained.
“Is there a reason you would not want to bring the Naga to the wedding?”
“I just, I’ve never been confronted with this protocol, and I don’t want to overstep any bounds. I don’t know… I will take your advice on this.” It’s not like Naga were common, so there weren’t any rules when it came to how to deal with them and attend a wedding. But the Soshis, they always seemed to know the answer to things. Kyuzo knew they were aware of much more than they let on, with the hints that they dropped from time to time.
“Please, come inside, Lord Asahina.”
Kyuzo nodded and stepped inside the house. Strangely, though, Sara didn’t enter. She waited outside the threshold and cocked her head to the side as Soshi closed the door on her. In the receiving room was a large round table, and placed in clear view laid a pillow made in white and blue. It was decorated with cranes and Kyuzo had a feeling it had been put there specifically for him. Of course, it would be rude not to take his designated seat, and so he did while the Soshis sat next to him on either side.
“Lord Asahina,” Soshi to his right said. “I believe it is time for a history lesson for you.” They didn’t switch their sentence between the two of them. It was just one Soshi who spoke, a great relief for the time of night it was.
“During the time of Oblivion’s Gate, and the Clan Wars, and the time between, the Naga fought the Foul, at least, that is what they call it. The Foul is anything tainted, or corrupted, which includes Shadow Corruption, the Taint from the Shadowlands, and anything else along those lines. They fought the Foul vehemently.”
Kyuzo understood bits and pieces of what Soshi was saying. He knew of the Taint, at least that people could be tainted, just not exactly how or why. He knew some good people became tainted, ruling out that only the wicked harbored Taint. However, Shadow Corruption, that was something new and foreign. He had never heard of whatever that was. Moreover, Soshi had indicated that even more than those two things were grouped into the Foul that the Naga fought. He nodded for her to keep going.
“Now, a little known secret outside the Spider clan to few other people, the Naga taught the Spider something. It’s a gift, or a trick. A way to rid people of the Taint. The way to do this is almost impossible to live through, but if you make it, and you survive, the Taint is gone completely.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” Kyuzo believed it to be a good thing. It indicated that the Naga and the Spider had some dealings at some point in time, and they taught them how to rid themselves of Taint.
“It is. However, the Naga fight everything that we hate. Everything that we fight against, they too, combat.”
“So we have the same goals. Okay. But is that widely known?”
“No, not entirely,” Soshi shook her head. “But the reason this is important is because of who they fought.”
“From the way you say that, I imagine it was the Empire,” Kyuzo cringed; he didn’t want to hear that he had brought a Naga into town and they- she was their enemy.
“It was the Empire, at least part of it. However, at the time they were not part of the Empire. That’s been a recent occurrence. We’ll say five months, maybe six months time since the Empress’ decree.”
“So, the Spider,” Kyuzo concluded. Soshi had led him right to the answer, and the reason a Naga at the wedding might be a very bad idea.
“Yes,” Soshi nodded slowly.
“This lesson has been informative, but it hasn’t helped me in what to do about the wedding. So I ask again, do you have any advice to offer?”
“We suggest you bring the Naga, however, if you know of anyone who might harbor enough of the Taint to react to jade, it would be a good idea to not have them anywhere near the Naga.”
Kyuzo rubbed his neck, uncertain how to proceed from here. He hadn’t been told anyone was tainted when he took over the town, and although there have been an awful lot of Spider who have come since then, all the Spider had been tested before they were allowed in the Empire. Perhaps Soshi was insinuating that one, or many of them were tainted. Maybe they knew something he didn’t. Alternatively, maybe they believed he knew something they didn’t.
“Why would you think I have knowledge of that?” Kyuzo probed, seeing what direction they were coming from.
“There’s always the possibility. There are always secrets people have that even we don’t know.” Soshi kept her gaze steady, unblinking, watching Kyuzo intently.
“Alright,” Kyuzo said moving the conversation along, “I suppose everything is going according to plan with the wedding?”
“Of course,” Soshi to his left said,” Well… other than the bride returning in the middle of the night for reasons unknown. We have had the scout placed on her flogged.”
“I’ll just keep things going according to plan and excuse myself so I can get some rest,” Kyuzo rose and moved to the door to let himself out.
The Soshis rose in tandem, returning to their synchronic behavior, “Lord Asahina, feel free to stop by anytime you wish.”
He nodded and opened the door to find Sara still waiting for him. Kyuzo had little doubt she would be anywhere else. She followed him back to his house, to his room, where he readied for bed and made plans to sleep in past the sunrise.
***
The
sudden pinpoint force she felt hit her forehead launched Mikoto from
her sleep. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt, just surprising, whatever it
was. She flailed as she sat up, unsure of what had just happened and
then she saw Negisa kneeling in front of her. What time was it? Mikoto
blinked blurrily, trying to focus in the dark of the room, in the dark
of the night. It was obviously still before sunup, but Negisa sat
dressed, right next to Mikoto’s futon, with a look on her face Mikoto
wasn’t sure how to classify. It was like a glare, but colder, because
there wasn’t any rage behind it, just calculated anger. At least, that’s
what it looked like. She couldn’t be sure since she still couldn’t even
see clearly, nor think clearly. This might all be a dream. A strange
dream, but a dream nonetheless.
“Huh?” Mikoto muttered groggily.
“Would you care to explain just what you were thinking?” Negisa demanded.
“What?” Mikoto shook her head, still unsure of the situation or even what Negisa was talking about.
“I get woken up to a Scorpion telling me my sister-to-be has run out the night before her wedding,” Negisa glowered.
Mikoto wrinkled her brow trying to make sense of it all. She didn’t run out in the night, she was right here, sleeping, as Katsumi had told her to do. She shot a look to the door that was closed, and wondered if Katsumi was still sitting outside. Maybe Katsumi could explain to her sister that she was here sleeping.
“So let’s just be clear on something,” Negisa dropped her voice, “Absolutely. Crystal. Clear. I love my family. I will do anything for my family. You are not part of my family yet. And if you bring shame on this house with your actions, I will make you wish you had never been part of this family. Are we clear?”
“Uh, okay,” Mikoto rubbed her eyes still not fully awake.
“Rest well, Sister-to-be,” Negisa smiled and opened the door revealing Katsumi sitting where Mikoto had left her, right in front of the door. “Katsumi will be watching over you. Just to make sure you don’t do anything else foolish.”
At her name Katsumi turned and raised a brow at Mikoto who was sitting confused in her bed, half covered. All Mikoto could do in response was nod. Then Katsumi slid the door shut again, closing Mikoto in the dark once more. She slumped back in bed and rolled on her back staring at the ceiling trying to piece Negisa’s midnight visit together. It was something about family, and Katsumi, and… the thoughts grew fuzzy as she slipped back into the heavy sleep she had been in before whatever it was poked her forehead.
“Huh?” Mikoto muttered groggily.
“Would you care to explain just what you were thinking?” Negisa demanded.
“What?” Mikoto shook her head, still unsure of the situation or even what Negisa was talking about.
“I get woken up to a Scorpion telling me my sister-to-be has run out the night before her wedding,” Negisa glowered.
Mikoto wrinkled her brow trying to make sense of it all. She didn’t run out in the night, she was right here, sleeping, as Katsumi had told her to do. She shot a look to the door that was closed, and wondered if Katsumi was still sitting outside. Maybe Katsumi could explain to her sister that she was here sleeping.
“So let’s just be clear on something,” Negisa dropped her voice, “Absolutely. Crystal. Clear. I love my family. I will do anything for my family. You are not part of my family yet. And if you bring shame on this house with your actions, I will make you wish you had never been part of this family. Are we clear?”
“Uh, okay,” Mikoto rubbed her eyes still not fully awake.
“Rest well, Sister-to-be,” Negisa smiled and opened the door revealing Katsumi sitting where Mikoto had left her, right in front of the door. “Katsumi will be watching over you. Just to make sure you don’t do anything else foolish.”
At her name Katsumi turned and raised a brow at Mikoto who was sitting confused in her bed, half covered. All Mikoto could do in response was nod. Then Katsumi slid the door shut again, closing Mikoto in the dark once more. She slumped back in bed and rolled on her back staring at the ceiling trying to piece Negisa’s midnight visit together. It was something about family, and Katsumi, and… the thoughts grew fuzzy as she slipped back into the heavy sleep she had been in before whatever it was poked her forehead.
***
After
the late night last night, the sprint this morning, and another long
trek through the woods back to town this evening, Morasahi was more than
ready to crawl into bed and be done with the day. Technically the day
was over long ago, several hours at least, and now it was pre-dawn, the
start of tomorrow. But to Morasahi, it was still part of yesterday. A
yesterday she wanted to put behind her. The only good thing about the
journey home is she knew everyone would be as tired as she would
tomorrow, because everyone was out well past midnight stumbling through
the woods like she was. Now, rounding four in the morning, she changed
into her nightclothes and crawled into bed.
Then the door opened. A fully dressed Negisa stepped into the room, closed the door and settled next to Morasahi’s futon as if she was planning to stay a while. She didn’t even knock, not that Morasahi would tell Negisa that, but that wasn’t the point. Negisa was sitting in her room at this ungodly hour, for Heaven knows what reason. This morning’s first memories came rushing back, Negisa, naked, kissing her good morning. Morasahi froze up, hoping this didn’t have to do with that. She didn’t want to talk about that. She didn’t remember what went on last night and would rather keep it that way, nor did she want to make a big deal about it. Whatever happened happened, and it was all Daigotsu Katsumi’s fault.
“Good evening, Negisa-san,” Morasahi greeted her once it was clear she wasn’t going away any time soon.
“Good evening, Shiba-san,” Negisa smiled in return.
“Wh-what can I help you with?” She asked, just a little afraid of the answer that would come.
“It’s easy, actually, I’m going to help you with some of your issues today,” Negisa studied the Go board that was set up mid-game.
“What problems… would those be?” She honestly had no idea what Negisa was referring to. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, or maybe it was just that she had so many.
“Asako Yuji, of course. Have you forgotten the original portion of our deal?” Negisa placed a stone on the board, seeming to contemplate the validity of the move. Morasahi was thankful for that. It kept Negisa from staring her down, something the Daigotsus were very good at doing.
“No… I just… was not expecting it so early,” Morasahi stuttered. It had only been a month, and something like that took time. A lot of time. She had expected maybe more training, then some courting, and in six months time, maybe, maybe she would get around to revealing her intentions to Yuji. During the Winter Court would be a good time. That’s when marriages were usually made.
“It’s alright,” Negisa assured her as she shot her look in Morasahi’s direction. “It’s actually fairly simple.” Negisa began crawling towards Morasahi, putting herself uncomfortably close. “Tomorrow, at some point, bat your eyes prettily at him, say his name, look him in the eye,” Negisa did just that before she leaned into Morasahi, breathing into her ear. “You know, be friendly. And then offer to take him back to your place, or his, it doesn’t matter, for a game of Go.” Negisa sat back and waved a hand at the board on the ground. “Drink some sake with him and… let things happen.”
“You don’t think… what if he says no? I don‘t think I can do that,” Morasahi squeaked.
“Don’t worry, there’s nothing to fear about that. Courage is something that you learn; it’s not something people are born with. Do you think the Matsu are born into talking to lions and treating them as equals?”
“Yes.”
“No,” Negisa chortled, “They’re not. They’re raised at a young age to do that. It’s something that is learned. It is not normal. Courage is earned.”
Morasahi shifted uncomfortably. This was too early. She hadn’t even spoken with Yuji since she had asked him to teach her courtly things. She had been so busy with her school’s training and with Negisa’s training that time had just slipped away from her. Now Negisa wanted her to… to falsely bring Yuji into her room with promises of games of intelligence and once that was done to seduce him and she expected it to work just like that? Maybe another time, maybe after they go for a few walks or something.
“Does it have to be tomorrow?” Morasahi asked, already knowing the answer but hoping her reservations would change Negisa’s mind.
“It will have to be tomorrow,” Negisa affirmed.
“Why? Why can’t I just…” Morasahi was grasping for anything here. She needed more time. “You know… wait a few days?”
“It will be tomorrow,” Negisa commanded.
That was it; there was no getting out of it now. Negisa had spoken and no amount of wiggling on Morasahi’s part would change the outcome. Negisa stood and dusted her dress off letting herself out of the room. But before she closed the door, she turned and offered that smile Negisa often wore and said, “I expect a lot from you, Shiba-san.”
Then the door was closed, and she was gone. Morasahi toppled backwards onto her futon. So much for the sleep she was planning on getting. Now she had to work up the courage to step outside her normal behavior and spend time alone with Yuji. Closed off in someone’s room. She wanted this, but at the same time, she didn’t want to be forced into this situation, and that’s precisely what was happening. It wasn’t happening on her terms. She sighed and stared at her ceiling, going over what to say tomorrow.
Asahina nodded unfazed by Anjin’s accusations. Apparently, Anjin wasn’t the only one who believed Negisa to be dangerous if Asahina wasn’t requiring any more explanation than Anjin was giving.
“I agree,” Asahina said pensively. “She is incredibly skilled at subverting our… our will, if you will. I don’t know if we have any options, or what those options might be against her, but if you have any suggestions I’m open to them. I support you.”
“Thank you for that,” Anjin was relieved. He didn’t have to go into details right now, they didn’t really have time for it anyways, but Asahina was behind him in whatever actions he took now, and that was a powerful friend to have. But before that, he had to somehow get out of the situation he had gotten himself into. The one where he would be put to death for even mentioning his involvement.
“I’ll be keeping an eye out and paying attention as things develop,” Anjin concluded, “I have this problem of my own I need to address. I’ll speak to you about it in greater detail when we can find time to speak in a more private setting.”
“Absolutely,” Asahina said as he took his leave and proceeded to the wedding.
Anjin nervously glanced about before leaving as well.
Then the door opened. A fully dressed Negisa stepped into the room, closed the door and settled next to Morasahi’s futon as if she was planning to stay a while. She didn’t even knock, not that Morasahi would tell Negisa that, but that wasn’t the point. Negisa was sitting in her room at this ungodly hour, for Heaven knows what reason. This morning’s first memories came rushing back, Negisa, naked, kissing her good morning. Morasahi froze up, hoping this didn’t have to do with that. She didn’t want to talk about that. She didn’t remember what went on last night and would rather keep it that way, nor did she want to make a big deal about it. Whatever happened happened, and it was all Daigotsu Katsumi’s fault.
“Good evening, Negisa-san,” Morasahi greeted her once it was clear she wasn’t going away any time soon.
“Good evening, Shiba-san,” Negisa smiled in return.
“Wh-what can I help you with?” She asked, just a little afraid of the answer that would come.
“It’s easy, actually, I’m going to help you with some of your issues today,” Negisa studied the Go board that was set up mid-game.
“What problems… would those be?” She honestly had no idea what Negisa was referring to. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, or maybe it was just that she had so many.
“Asako Yuji, of course. Have you forgotten the original portion of our deal?” Negisa placed a stone on the board, seeming to contemplate the validity of the move. Morasahi was thankful for that. It kept Negisa from staring her down, something the Daigotsus were very good at doing.
“No… I just… was not expecting it so early,” Morasahi stuttered. It had only been a month, and something like that took time. A lot of time. She had expected maybe more training, then some courting, and in six months time, maybe, maybe she would get around to revealing her intentions to Yuji. During the Winter Court would be a good time. That’s when marriages were usually made.
“It’s alright,” Negisa assured her as she shot her look in Morasahi’s direction. “It’s actually fairly simple.” Negisa began crawling towards Morasahi, putting herself uncomfortably close. “Tomorrow, at some point, bat your eyes prettily at him, say his name, look him in the eye,” Negisa did just that before she leaned into Morasahi, breathing into her ear. “You know, be friendly. And then offer to take him back to your place, or his, it doesn’t matter, for a game of Go.” Negisa sat back and waved a hand at the board on the ground. “Drink some sake with him and… let things happen.”
“You don’t think… what if he says no? I don‘t think I can do that,” Morasahi squeaked.
“Don’t worry, there’s nothing to fear about that. Courage is something that you learn; it’s not something people are born with. Do you think the Matsu are born into talking to lions and treating them as equals?”
“Yes.”
“No,” Negisa chortled, “They’re not. They’re raised at a young age to do that. It’s something that is learned. It is not normal. Courage is earned.”
Morasahi shifted uncomfortably. This was too early. She hadn’t even spoken with Yuji since she had asked him to teach her courtly things. She had been so busy with her school’s training and with Negisa’s training that time had just slipped away from her. Now Negisa wanted her to… to falsely bring Yuji into her room with promises of games of intelligence and once that was done to seduce him and she expected it to work just like that? Maybe another time, maybe after they go for a few walks or something.
“Does it have to be tomorrow?” Morasahi asked, already knowing the answer but hoping her reservations would change Negisa’s mind.
“It will have to be tomorrow,” Negisa affirmed.
“Why? Why can’t I just…” Morasahi was grasping for anything here. She needed more time. “You know… wait a few days?”
“It will be tomorrow,” Negisa commanded.
That was it; there was no getting out of it now. Negisa had spoken and no amount of wiggling on Morasahi’s part would change the outcome. Negisa stood and dusted her dress off letting herself out of the room. But before she closed the door, she turned and offered that smile Negisa often wore and said, “I expect a lot from you, Shiba-san.”
Then the door was closed, and she was gone. Morasahi toppled backwards onto her futon. So much for the sleep she was planning on getting. Now she had to work up the courage to step outside her normal behavior and spend time alone with Yuji. Closed off in someone’s room. She wanted this, but at the same time, she didn’t want to be forced into this situation, and that’s precisely what was happening. It wasn’t happening on her terms. She sighed and stared at her ceiling, going over what to say tomorrow.
***
Anjin noted Asahina’s door was
closed when he walked by late in the morning, having slept in after last
night’s journey. He had woken to a house that was much quieter than
usual; it seemed nearly everyone slept in late. Everyone but Daigotsu,
who was carving some small object at the dining table, and Matsu who was
having her hair done up by Negisa. Anjin made certain to take a seat
where he wouldn’t have to look at Negisa, or have her see him. He was
uneasy about the deal he had struck with Negisa, and although his legs
continued to feel better each day, he took heed of Daigotsu Katsumi’s
warning that he was in over his head. Katsumi didn’t scare easy, as far
as he could tell, and something about Negisa scared her. Something about
Negisa scared him.
When Asahina’s door finally opened, Anjin was dismayed to see that he was busy being surrounded by attendants who were readying him for the wedding. He needed a moment of Asahina’s time, just a moment to express the dread he had been feeling ever since yesterday morning. He had made a mistake. Fallen victim in a moment of weakness. Dreams of being like everyone else had clouded his judgment, and now he had to let someone know who could do something about it. Katsumi had proven to be useless, refusing to take part in the conversation. Yes, it was taboo, but when had Katsumi ever flinched at what was not allowed? The only other person he trusted to handle things, including whatever would befall Anjin, was Asahina. So Anjin waited, not so patiently, for a lull in the activity to have a word with Asahina.
Finally, the opportunity presented itself. Asahina stepped out of his room, about to disembark for the ceremony when Anjin blocked his way as politely as one can block someone’s way.
“Asahina-sama, will you walk with me?” He glanced around nervously, knowing the rumors that had been spread from this house. “We must talk and one cannot be too weary of lingering ears.”
Asahina gave a slow nod and a weary look about him as well. “Of course, Kitsuki-san.”
They paced several feet from the house, closer to the bathhouse than any other building, but making sure even to avoid that. Anjin didn’t want to make the mistake of being too close to any place a living soul would be. He didn’t want anyone but Asahina hearing his confession of blasphemous intent.
“Some things have come to my attention, and I cannot tell you everything within these walls,” Anjin nodded his head towards the house. “The mightiest grove has trees whose branches will not reach towards the heavens. I’m afraid there’s someone among us whose goal, it seems, is to drag us into chaos. And I worry of her plots. I’m afraid at a moment of indiscretion, I fell into one of Negisa’s traps, and I’m not sure how to handle the situation, but I may need to call upon your help. We also need to keep this absolutely secret.”
When Asahina’s door finally opened, Anjin was dismayed to see that he was busy being surrounded by attendants who were readying him for the wedding. He needed a moment of Asahina’s time, just a moment to express the dread he had been feeling ever since yesterday morning. He had made a mistake. Fallen victim in a moment of weakness. Dreams of being like everyone else had clouded his judgment, and now he had to let someone know who could do something about it. Katsumi had proven to be useless, refusing to take part in the conversation. Yes, it was taboo, but when had Katsumi ever flinched at what was not allowed? The only other person he trusted to handle things, including whatever would befall Anjin, was Asahina. So Anjin waited, not so patiently, for a lull in the activity to have a word with Asahina.
Finally, the opportunity presented itself. Asahina stepped out of his room, about to disembark for the ceremony when Anjin blocked his way as politely as one can block someone’s way.
“Asahina-sama, will you walk with me?” He glanced around nervously, knowing the rumors that had been spread from this house. “We must talk and one cannot be too weary of lingering ears.”
Asahina gave a slow nod and a weary look about him as well. “Of course, Kitsuki-san.”
They paced several feet from the house, closer to the bathhouse than any other building, but making sure even to avoid that. Anjin didn’t want to make the mistake of being too close to any place a living soul would be. He didn’t want anyone but Asahina hearing his confession of blasphemous intent.
“Some things have come to my attention, and I cannot tell you everything within these walls,” Anjin nodded his head towards the house. “The mightiest grove has trees whose branches will not reach towards the heavens. I’m afraid there’s someone among us whose goal, it seems, is to drag us into chaos. And I worry of her plots. I’m afraid at a moment of indiscretion, I fell into one of Negisa’s traps, and I’m not sure how to handle the situation, but I may need to call upon your help. We also need to keep this absolutely secret.”
Asahina nodded unfazed by Anjin’s accusations. Apparently, Anjin wasn’t the only one who believed Negisa to be dangerous if Asahina wasn’t requiring any more explanation than Anjin was giving.
“I agree,” Asahina said pensively. “She is incredibly skilled at subverting our… our will, if you will. I don’t know if we have any options, or what those options might be against her, but if you have any suggestions I’m open to them. I support you.”
“Thank you for that,” Anjin was relieved. He didn’t have to go into details right now, they didn’t really have time for it anyways, but Asahina was behind him in whatever actions he took now, and that was a powerful friend to have. But before that, he had to somehow get out of the situation he had gotten himself into. The one where he would be put to death for even mentioning his involvement.
“I’ll be keeping an eye out and paying attention as things develop,” Anjin concluded, “I have this problem of my own I need to address. I’ll speak to you about it in greater detail when we can find time to speak in a more private setting.”
“Absolutely,” Asahina said as he took his leave and proceeded to the wedding.
Anjin nervously glanced about before leaving as well.
***
Morasahi
turned around again and headed back towards the Phoenix section of
town. She had been on her way there when she had decided she wasn’t yet
ready to assert herself. Twice now. Twice she had walked towards Yuji’s
house, and twice she had spun back to where she had come. Of course, the
thought of letting Negisa down convinced her both times that this was
something that needed to be done. She needed to at least invite him
over, whether anything happened or not would left to be seen, but
inviting him wouldn’t be so bad. Would it? No, Morasahi assured herself,
she had invited him to play Go with her many times, this wouldn’t seem
so different. This would be as easy as any other time… except she knew
what was expected to follow.
“Shiba-san,” Yuji called, smiling at her with the hint of a blush on his cheeks. “It’s a pleasure to see you today.”
Morasahi hid her panic and swallowed her doubts. It was too late now to turn back. This conversation was going to happen. “Absolutely. It’s a pleasure to see you as well. It’s… uh- quite a festive day today.”
“It is, considering it’s the first Spider wedding in the Empire,” Yuji noted.
“Oh, yeah. I’ve-uh… never attended one of these, so it should prove to be… interesting.” Why did she just say that? Of course she had never attended a Spider wedding; Yuji had just said it was the first in the Empire. It was just the first thing that came to mind in order to explain she was looking forward to it, but the way it came out… She pushed the thought away and tried to refocus on the conversation. Be friendly, she reminded herself.
“From what I understand, it isn’t too much different from ours,” Yuji explained.
“It seems a little um… rushed almost. But that may just be-um, Spider tradition,” Morasahi attempted to make polite conversation, show she was interested in the topic.
“I think they’re in a hurry because I think the Spider male, um, Daigotsu Yanagi is heading out again soon, from what I understand. So they don’t have much time. He’s continuously doing… something.”
This was why Yuji was so talented. He not only knew everything going on with the Phoenix, he was also aware of everything in the town. There was a reason he was her advisor. She should probably take advantage of the knowledge he held, she had been so busy she hadn’t even considered he would know more than she did about the town she was supposed to be improving. She should probably also take advantage of the time she had to spend with Yuji as well, like what she had come here to do.
“After the wedding and everything… would you like to… come back to my place for some sake and a game of Go?” Morasahi managed to get it out without stumbling through the sentence too badly.
“I would love to,” Yuji smiled at her. It worked! Though, she wasn’t sure why she was so surprised, he had never turned her down for a game of Go. That’s all it was, just another game. Morasahi just had to remind herself that that was all it was, another game.
“I will see you after the wedding then,” She bowed politely.
“Of course,” Yuji bowed in return, “I’ll be looking forward to it.”
“Shiba-san,” Yuji called, smiling at her with the hint of a blush on his cheeks. “It’s a pleasure to see you today.”
Morasahi hid her panic and swallowed her doubts. It was too late now to turn back. This conversation was going to happen. “Absolutely. It’s a pleasure to see you as well. It’s… uh- quite a festive day today.”
“It is, considering it’s the first Spider wedding in the Empire,” Yuji noted.
“Oh, yeah. I’ve-uh… never attended one of these, so it should prove to be… interesting.” Why did she just say that? Of course she had never attended a Spider wedding; Yuji had just said it was the first in the Empire. It was just the first thing that came to mind in order to explain she was looking forward to it, but the way it came out… She pushed the thought away and tried to refocus on the conversation. Be friendly, she reminded herself.
“From what I understand, it isn’t too much different from ours,” Yuji explained.
“It seems a little um… rushed almost. But that may just be-um, Spider tradition,” Morasahi attempted to make polite conversation, show she was interested in the topic.
“I think they’re in a hurry because I think the Spider male, um, Daigotsu Yanagi is heading out again soon, from what I understand. So they don’t have much time. He’s continuously doing… something.”
This was why Yuji was so talented. He not only knew everything going on with the Phoenix, he was also aware of everything in the town. There was a reason he was her advisor. She should probably take advantage of the knowledge he held, she had been so busy she hadn’t even considered he would know more than she did about the town she was supposed to be improving. She should probably also take advantage of the time she had to spend with Yuji as well, like what she had come here to do.
“After the wedding and everything… would you like to… come back to my place for some sake and a game of Go?” Morasahi managed to get it out without stumbling through the sentence too badly.
“I would love to,” Yuji smiled at her. It worked! Though, she wasn’t sure why she was so surprised, he had never turned her down for a game of Go. That’s all it was, just another game. Morasahi just had to remind herself that that was all it was, another game.
“I will see you after the wedding then,” She bowed politely.
“Of course,” Yuji bowed in return, “I’ll be looking forward to it.”
***
The
atmosphere in town was one of jubilation, in fact, it reminded Anjin
much of a festival. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in the mood to engage and
enjoy the gay occasion, he had a great deal on his mind and was only
attending out of need, not desire. Matsu was a fine person, he had
nothing against her, and Daigotsu Yanagi hadn’t proven to be deceiving
in any way when Anjin had dealt with him, including when Daigotsu
Katsumi was arranged as Anjin’s bodyguard. However, this whole event
couldn’t have come at a more inopportune moment. It was nothing more
than a distraction when the balance of morality was in question. His
morality and others.
After Asahina had disclosed that Negisa was talented in subverting more than Anjin’s will, he began to piece together theories on whom else had been corrupted into chaos by Negisa. Shiba had been spending a large amount of time with her; maybe Shiba wasn’t herself any longer. Moreover, Asahina spoke as if he had experience with Negisa; perhaps he was too noble to fall into her clutches, but what did that say about the rest? He hadn’t known Tsuruchi Meintaro long enough to determine his character, though the Scorpion had said neither they nor the Spider trusted him, so it was unlikely he was involved. In addition, Matsu was marrying into Negisa’s family; it was possible she had already fallen victim to whatever the overall plot was. And Daigotsu Katsumi… Anjin wasn’t sure about her. She seemed to exhibit true intention to protect him, but perhaps it was all a ruse in order to lull him into a false sense of security.
He took a seat at the end of the first row. It wasn’t much of a row, being only three chairs on either side of the aisle. This sat him next to Daigotsu Katsumi, who he eyed dubiously, and Asahina was positioned on the other side of her. Across the aisle sat Tsuruchi and Shiba, with an empty seat at the end. Behind Anjin was Sara, the Naga, and several other members from the Spider clan. There were also Crane, Scorpion, and Phoenix dotting the seats, but no Lion. It spoke volumes on their feelings about this union. The Lion were the loudest to oppose the Spider joining the Empire, followed by mass seppuku in their clan in protest to the Empress’ decree. What an unfortunate set of circumstances for Matsu.
Speaking of Matsu, she was more beautiful than words could describe. Her hair was done up in an intricate design, her white outfit was the most divine material Anjin had ever seen, and she positively glowed. He would have to remember the way she looked; maybe offer her a poem during her ceremony to honor her. Anjin kicked himself; he hadn’t gotten a gift for the couple. He had completely forgotten about the wedding, and with Daigotsu agreeing to take him out into the woods yesterday, and then not protesting when they decided to camp for the night, he had little of a reminder. Was she going to miss the wedding today? No, Daigotsu wouldn’t do that. Perhaps they were going to travel back first thing in the morning, earlier than they had left the day before.
The wedding began, orchestrated by a Kitsune from the Mantis clan. There were a great number of periods of chanting, and they followed through every ritual Anjin could name when it came to a wedding ceremony. Including overlapping many of them, or repeating them, making the whole affair a very long and rather tiresome one. Anjin peeked at glance at Daigotsu, who was watching with a glassy gaze, probably not even paying attention. He could relate, he had other things he wanted to take care of; he had letters to write that he didn’t get a chance to do this morning, and this wedding had already stretched on for an hour and he suspected they were only half-done. He watched Asahina, who looked tired but attentive, much different from Daigotsu. He was good at putting on the right appearance; Anjin had to respect that about Asahina.
Alternatively, he could just remove Asahina from this plane of existence. That sounded like a better option than paying lip service to someone who presented themselves so falsely. In fact, that sounded like something he needed to take care of right now. This very moment. And he wanted the whole world to witness the downfall of the lying, conniving, puppet of a man, Asahina.
Anjin jumped up, leaving his crutches by the side of his chair. He didn’t need them any longer, this morning he was walking fine but he had brought them for show so others wouldn‘t know of his new ability. Now, however, they would just slow him down and get in the way, and beating Asahina with a stick sounded ridiculous when Anjin had a wakizashi on his hip. He snatched it out of its scabbard, and with a roar, called out the man who deserved his ire, “Asahina!”
Asahina kicked out of his seat and turned his body sideways, a futile attempt to run, and he didn’t draw his weapon, which meant Asahina had no chance to protect himself. He probably didn’t even want to protect himself. Asahina knew what he had done, he knew he deserved this and was going to allow Anjin to dole out justice as was right in the world. Then there was movement, and a lot of it. While Anjin was lunging for Asahina, a blur of red and orange came into view, and the fierce eyes of Shiba Morasahi. There was a flash of metal and her katana was out, poised between her and Anjin, and she was between Anjin and Asahina. It didn’t matter; he would either bypass the foolish girl or take her down with Asahina. Asahina needed to be punished. He was a stain on this world and needed to be removed from their lives. Shiba would thank him when he was done. She would see the truth once it was over, that she was being controlled into laying down her life for the wrong side of things.
Anjin raised his knife and prepared to bring it down, over Shiba, onto Asahina, when something hard struck his wrist, stopping his downward slash. Yet he didn’t stop. Instead he was being forced down, that sudden force that hit him rolled and hands were grabbing at his forearm and just above his elbow, pushing him down by his shoulder and turning his hand up into the air behind him. Daigotsu, who was supposed to be protecting Anjin, was clasped to his arm and preventing him from carrying out what needed to be done. Anjin tugged, throwing his weight away from Daigotsu, to the ground, to the left, it didn’t matter as long as he could get away and finish off Asahina. It was no use; she pushed him to the ground and set a knee on his back, twisting his arm with a cold look in her eyes.
This couldn’t be happening. It must be some insane nightmare where the people closest to him turn on him. Asahina deserved to die. He knew it. He felt it in his very core. And Daigotsu didn’t bat an eye as she forced his face into the dirt. Shiba didn’t say a word as she knocked Anjin’s weapon away from him. Both of them protecting Asahina, both of them in the wrong. Then he felt something stabbing into his hand, the hand that had been holding his wakizashi, and Sara withdrew from him with fangs. Fangs. Her nails had elongated into claws and her mouth was lined with pinpointed teeth. Teeth she had sunk into his hand, which now burned and tingled as if it were going numb. He felt it crawling up his arm, slowly and painfully.
There wasn’t anything that could make this any worse. At least that had been his thought before the elegant white dress Matsu was wearing came into his line of sight. She stood over him, rage burning in her eyes, pulled back her foot and kicked him in the gut. Anjin’s breath was forced from his body. He felt his lungs shrivel and saw the dirt fly in front of his face as he involuntarily blew out all the air he had. It was the last thing he saw. The minute brown specs drifting across his vision, propelled by his breath, breath Matsu had kicked from him, and then the world closed in on him and darkness was all he saw.
After Asahina had disclosed that Negisa was talented in subverting more than Anjin’s will, he began to piece together theories on whom else had been corrupted into chaos by Negisa. Shiba had been spending a large amount of time with her; maybe Shiba wasn’t herself any longer. Moreover, Asahina spoke as if he had experience with Negisa; perhaps he was too noble to fall into her clutches, but what did that say about the rest? He hadn’t known Tsuruchi Meintaro long enough to determine his character, though the Scorpion had said neither they nor the Spider trusted him, so it was unlikely he was involved. In addition, Matsu was marrying into Negisa’s family; it was possible she had already fallen victim to whatever the overall plot was. And Daigotsu Katsumi… Anjin wasn’t sure about her. She seemed to exhibit true intention to protect him, but perhaps it was all a ruse in order to lull him into a false sense of security.
He took a seat at the end of the first row. It wasn’t much of a row, being only three chairs on either side of the aisle. This sat him next to Daigotsu Katsumi, who he eyed dubiously, and Asahina was positioned on the other side of her. Across the aisle sat Tsuruchi and Shiba, with an empty seat at the end. Behind Anjin was Sara, the Naga, and several other members from the Spider clan. There were also Crane, Scorpion, and Phoenix dotting the seats, but no Lion. It spoke volumes on their feelings about this union. The Lion were the loudest to oppose the Spider joining the Empire, followed by mass seppuku in their clan in protest to the Empress’ decree. What an unfortunate set of circumstances for Matsu.
Speaking of Matsu, she was more beautiful than words could describe. Her hair was done up in an intricate design, her white outfit was the most divine material Anjin had ever seen, and she positively glowed. He would have to remember the way she looked; maybe offer her a poem during her ceremony to honor her. Anjin kicked himself; he hadn’t gotten a gift for the couple. He had completely forgotten about the wedding, and with Daigotsu agreeing to take him out into the woods yesterday, and then not protesting when they decided to camp for the night, he had little of a reminder. Was she going to miss the wedding today? No, Daigotsu wouldn’t do that. Perhaps they were going to travel back first thing in the morning, earlier than they had left the day before.
The wedding began, orchestrated by a Kitsune from the Mantis clan. There were a great number of periods of chanting, and they followed through every ritual Anjin could name when it came to a wedding ceremony. Including overlapping many of them, or repeating them, making the whole affair a very long and rather tiresome one. Anjin peeked at glance at Daigotsu, who was watching with a glassy gaze, probably not even paying attention. He could relate, he had other things he wanted to take care of; he had letters to write that he didn’t get a chance to do this morning, and this wedding had already stretched on for an hour and he suspected they were only half-done. He watched Asahina, who looked tired but attentive, much different from Daigotsu. He was good at putting on the right appearance; Anjin had to respect that about Asahina.
Alternatively, he could just remove Asahina from this plane of existence. That sounded like a better option than paying lip service to someone who presented themselves so falsely. In fact, that sounded like something he needed to take care of right now. This very moment. And he wanted the whole world to witness the downfall of the lying, conniving, puppet of a man, Asahina.
Anjin jumped up, leaving his crutches by the side of his chair. He didn’t need them any longer, this morning he was walking fine but he had brought them for show so others wouldn‘t know of his new ability. Now, however, they would just slow him down and get in the way, and beating Asahina with a stick sounded ridiculous when Anjin had a wakizashi on his hip. He snatched it out of its scabbard, and with a roar, called out the man who deserved his ire, “Asahina!”
Asahina kicked out of his seat and turned his body sideways, a futile attempt to run, and he didn’t draw his weapon, which meant Asahina had no chance to protect himself. He probably didn’t even want to protect himself. Asahina knew what he had done, he knew he deserved this and was going to allow Anjin to dole out justice as was right in the world. Then there was movement, and a lot of it. While Anjin was lunging for Asahina, a blur of red and orange came into view, and the fierce eyes of Shiba Morasahi. There was a flash of metal and her katana was out, poised between her and Anjin, and she was between Anjin and Asahina. It didn’t matter; he would either bypass the foolish girl or take her down with Asahina. Asahina needed to be punished. He was a stain on this world and needed to be removed from their lives. Shiba would thank him when he was done. She would see the truth once it was over, that she was being controlled into laying down her life for the wrong side of things.
Anjin raised his knife and prepared to bring it down, over Shiba, onto Asahina, when something hard struck his wrist, stopping his downward slash. Yet he didn’t stop. Instead he was being forced down, that sudden force that hit him rolled and hands were grabbing at his forearm and just above his elbow, pushing him down by his shoulder and turning his hand up into the air behind him. Daigotsu, who was supposed to be protecting Anjin, was clasped to his arm and preventing him from carrying out what needed to be done. Anjin tugged, throwing his weight away from Daigotsu, to the ground, to the left, it didn’t matter as long as he could get away and finish off Asahina. It was no use; she pushed him to the ground and set a knee on his back, twisting his arm with a cold look in her eyes.
This couldn’t be happening. It must be some insane nightmare where the people closest to him turn on him. Asahina deserved to die. He knew it. He felt it in his very core. And Daigotsu didn’t bat an eye as she forced his face into the dirt. Shiba didn’t say a word as she knocked Anjin’s weapon away from him. Both of them protecting Asahina, both of them in the wrong. Then he felt something stabbing into his hand, the hand that had been holding his wakizashi, and Sara withdrew from him with fangs. Fangs. Her nails had elongated into claws and her mouth was lined with pinpointed teeth. Teeth she had sunk into his hand, which now burned and tingled as if it were going numb. He felt it crawling up his arm, slowly and painfully.
There wasn’t anything that could make this any worse. At least that had been his thought before the elegant white dress Matsu was wearing came into his line of sight. She stood over him, rage burning in her eyes, pulled back her foot and kicked him in the gut. Anjin’s breath was forced from his body. He felt his lungs shrivel and saw the dirt fly in front of his face as he involuntarily blew out all the air he had. It was the last thing he saw. The minute brown specs drifting across his vision, propelled by his breath, breath Matsu had kicked from him, and then the world closed in on him and darkness was all he saw.
***
Katsumi
glared at Sara, there was no need for her actions. She pressed on
Kitsuki’s wound, staunching the blood flow. Luckily, the bite Sara had
inflicted wasn’t deep, but that wasn’t the point. The point was Kitsuki
was already unarmed, restrained, and the Naga had bitten him after
the fact. And though Katsumi wouldn’t complain in most cases, this was
Kitsuki, this was someone she was supposed to keep safe, and the Naga
attacked him when Katsumi was already busy keeping Kitsuki from being
sliced in two by Asahina, more likely Shiba since she had her blade out
and stood between the two of them. Then Mikoto had come down from the
stage and kicked Kitsuki in the abdomen, hard enough that he passed out.
Katsumi would be upset at that except Mikoto deserved some sort of
retribution. This whole stunt had interrupted Mikoto’s wedding, and
although Katsumi would have rather Mikoto take care of things later,
when she wasn’t putting her emotions on display in front of everyone, it
was acceptable. It was expected. But Sara… Katsumi scowled at the Naga
as she pulled back from Kitsuki’s hand checking the wound. It had
stopped bleeding so she scooped Kitsuki up onto her shoulders and
stalked off to his room, the only sound from the stunned audience was
someone in the background yelling, “Now that’s what I call a wedding!”
Katsumi set Kitsuki on the floor and checked for broken ribs. It seemed Mikoto hadn’t done as much damage as Katsumi had believed, and that Kitsuki was just barely holding on to consciousness after Sara had poisoned him. Yes, he had been poisoned. Katsumi could clearly see the discoloration around the wound from where her venom had been injected. She sighed. This could be the end of Kitsuki. Katsumi knew very little about the Naga, and this poison could be highly toxic. For all she knew, Kitsuki’s heart would stop beating any moment now. Well, she knew it wouldn’t, since his vitals were still strong, but the point was she didn’t know what it would do to his body. So she bandaged his wound, applied a compress to his ribs, and brought out his acupressure cuffs to keep him subdued.
It wasn’t much longer before Kitsuki woke up; groaning from what Katsumi could only guess was pain as he sat up and looked around, taking special note of his cuffs. Katsumi shook her head while watching him. It was like he was trying to get himself killed. Putting himself in harms way repeatedly. First with maho, now with Asahina. She clenched her jaw and glowered at him. He sat quietly, not saying a word. They went on like this for quite some time before Katsumi heard people walking outside the room, the door opened and two Spider stepped inside.
“What are you doing?” Katsumi growled.
“We were told to watch the prisoner,” One of them responded, he was short and dressed in heavy armor.
“Outside,” Katsumi demanded.
“Of course, Katsumi-sama,” he replied and took his position outside of the door. The other following suit without a word. Katsumi got up and closed the door. The last thing she needed was the Spider demanding justice for Kitsuki’s actions. Granted, that was what it would come down to, he would surely be sentenced to death for his attempt on Asahina’s life, but right now she just needed some time to consider what was happening without allowing the problem to be snuffed out. She was supposed to protect him, and now it was impossible to keep him from ultimately facing the end of his life because of his actions. He had chosen the wrong path to go down, but damn the Heavens, she was going to keep him alive until Asahina passed judgment and not let him slip quietly away behind closed doors.
“Bring me a scroll and something to write with,” Kitsuki whispered.
Katsumi glared at him, who in Jigoku did he think he was talking to? She wasn’t his servant and she sure as hell wasn’t going to let him enjoy this time by writing poetry, a sonnet, or whatever it was he planned on doing to pass the time. No, he was going to sit there in silence and live out the remaining hours of his life being reminded of how much of an inconvenience he was by Katsumi’s steely company.
“I need to tell you something and I can’t say it,” Kitsuki breathily pleaded as he eyed the door.
Katsumi dared a glance over her shoulder at the shut door to her left. She raised a brow, curious as to what Kitsuki could possibly have to say. An apology would be easy enough to vocalize, unless it was for starting down this dangerous road in the first place. She tilted her head in Kitsuki’s direction, contemplating what he was up to. She didn’t want him to force her hand and have her end his life because he attempted some futile escape. There was no telling with Kitsuki now. His behavior had proved he was unpredictable.
Kitsuki raised his brows and mouthed “Please.” Katsumi sighed as she fiddled around his room, gathering a piece of paper, a brush, and readying an inkstone. She placed them in front of Kitsuki and undid his manacles, eyeing him wearily. She had no doubt she could subdue him again if need arose, but he was obviously in a fragile state and her non-lethal force may end with deadly results. There was the poison too, to consider. Kitsuki quickly scrawled a note on the paper and pushed it towards Katsumi, offering her the chance to read it. She picked it up and slowly went over the words.
Katsumi set Kitsuki on the floor and checked for broken ribs. It seemed Mikoto hadn’t done as much damage as Katsumi had believed, and that Kitsuki was just barely holding on to consciousness after Sara had poisoned him. Yes, he had been poisoned. Katsumi could clearly see the discoloration around the wound from where her venom had been injected. She sighed. This could be the end of Kitsuki. Katsumi knew very little about the Naga, and this poison could be highly toxic. For all she knew, Kitsuki’s heart would stop beating any moment now. Well, she knew it wouldn’t, since his vitals were still strong, but the point was she didn’t know what it would do to his body. So she bandaged his wound, applied a compress to his ribs, and brought out his acupressure cuffs to keep him subdued.
It wasn’t much longer before Kitsuki woke up; groaning from what Katsumi could only guess was pain as he sat up and looked around, taking special note of his cuffs. Katsumi shook her head while watching him. It was like he was trying to get himself killed. Putting himself in harms way repeatedly. First with maho, now with Asahina. She clenched her jaw and glowered at him. He sat quietly, not saying a word. They went on like this for quite some time before Katsumi heard people walking outside the room, the door opened and two Spider stepped inside.
“What are you doing?” Katsumi growled.
“We were told to watch the prisoner,” One of them responded, he was short and dressed in heavy armor.
“Outside,” Katsumi demanded.
“Of course, Katsumi-sama,” he replied and took his position outside of the door. The other following suit without a word. Katsumi got up and closed the door. The last thing she needed was the Spider demanding justice for Kitsuki’s actions. Granted, that was what it would come down to, he would surely be sentenced to death for his attempt on Asahina’s life, but right now she just needed some time to consider what was happening without allowing the problem to be snuffed out. She was supposed to protect him, and now it was impossible to keep him from ultimately facing the end of his life because of his actions. He had chosen the wrong path to go down, but damn the Heavens, she was going to keep him alive until Asahina passed judgment and not let him slip quietly away behind closed doors.
“Bring me a scroll and something to write with,” Kitsuki whispered.
Katsumi glared at him, who in Jigoku did he think he was talking to? She wasn’t his servant and she sure as hell wasn’t going to let him enjoy this time by writing poetry, a sonnet, or whatever it was he planned on doing to pass the time. No, he was going to sit there in silence and live out the remaining hours of his life being reminded of how much of an inconvenience he was by Katsumi’s steely company.
“I need to tell you something and I can’t say it,” Kitsuki breathily pleaded as he eyed the door.
Katsumi dared a glance over her shoulder at the shut door to her left. She raised a brow, curious as to what Kitsuki could possibly have to say. An apology would be easy enough to vocalize, unless it was for starting down this dangerous road in the first place. She tilted her head in Kitsuki’s direction, contemplating what he was up to. She didn’t want him to force her hand and have her end his life because he attempted some futile escape. There was no telling with Kitsuki now. His behavior had proved he was unpredictable.
Kitsuki raised his brows and mouthed “Please.” Katsumi sighed as she fiddled around his room, gathering a piece of paper, a brush, and readying an inkstone. She placed them in front of Kitsuki and undid his manacles, eyeing him wearily. She had no doubt she could subdue him again if need arose, but he was obviously in a fragile state and her non-lethal force may end with deadly results. There was the poison too, to consider. Kitsuki quickly scrawled a note on the paper and pushed it towards Katsumi, offering her the chance to read it. She picked it up and slowly went over the words.
“I told Asahina, Negisa was a threat. I believe she found out about my ‘betrayal’ and forced my hand against him. I know she is your sister, but we must find a way to stop or stall her. Then, whether or not we succeed, you must allow me to commit seppuku, so I may die with some small honor.”
Katsumi
blinked then re-read it. After the second pass-over, she repeated it
for a third time, shaking her head finally and folding the letter.
Kitsuki was waiting for her to say something, but words didn’t come
easily to Katsumi and these were even more challenging than most. There
were so many things wrong with this letter; Katsumi didn’t know where to
begin. She unfolded the letter and read it again, trying to figure out
where to go next.
Kitsuki marked the Spider as a threat, and told Asahina as much. That was not acceptable. That sort of accusation carried a massive amount of weight, and Kitsuki seemed either oblivious to that fact, or selfish in regards to whom he was setting on fire with it. However, he had only named Negisa, which lessened the blow. Negisa was one, and if they had to, the Spider would remove her from their clan in order to keep her shame from befalling them. If anything were to come of it. That all depended on what Kitsuki divulged to Asahina.
Katsumi leaned in close to Kitsuki, hoping he would give her the answer she was looking for. “Did you tell him what you got into?”
“No,” Kitsuki said.
Katsumi nodded and replaced the cuffs on him. There didn’t need to be any more writing. She didn’t need to know anything else. He had said the one thing that mattered, answered the only question that would determine how quickly this situation was going to spin out of control. If he had even uttered the word maho, things were going to become much messier in the following hours. At least this way it was only Kitsuki who forfeited his life and he didn’t shove Asahina into the same predicament.
Kitsuki was right about one thing in the paranoid letter he had written. Negisa was behind his unprovoked attack against Asahina. Katsumi knew the power that Negisa held when it came to blood magic. She didn’t understand it, nor did she care to. It wasn’t a path that appealed to her, too uncontrolled and too much dependence on strength outside of oneself. But when the kansin answered, it proved to be very, very powerful. Causing Kitsuki to lash out at Asahina would have been an easy task for the maligned spirits.
It all made sense now, the series of events that led up to the wedding. Negisa had found Katsumi earlier in the morning, before the wedding had taken place. In addition to providing a special mix of tea that cleared away the fogginess from staying awake all night, Negisa had said something that Katsumi had thought only polite advice at the time. She had said she had something that needed to be taken care of immediately, indicating she wouldn’t be at the wedding, and suggested Katsumi place herself near Asahina for the ceremony. Katsumi knew better than to ask what was so important, but clearly it was her way of ducking out of the public eye long enough to enact the ritual and appease the kansin into toying with Kitsuki. That was probably the only thing he had right in whatever his delusional theory was.
Negisa wasn’t a threat to anyone except those that threatened her. Kitsuki’s loose lips had targeted him, and his… whatever his plan was to pin on Negisa only added kindling to his pyre. There was nothing to stop or stall her from doing, besides destroying Kitsuki, and he brought that on himself. Furthermore, if he understood she was family, why would he even consider Katsumi would stand against her own sister? Did Kitsuki not understand what family meant? That was obviously the case. He had made the decision for her in his mind and believed she would so quickly align herself with someone who would break his word of trust only days after giving it to Negisa. Katsumi wasn’t going to be played in that manner. No, Negisa had been there since before Katsumi could recall, and Kitsuki? Kitsuki was proving to be only in it for himself, only in it for his small amount of honor he had left, which was fastly diminishing.
Kitsuki marked the Spider as a threat, and told Asahina as much. That was not acceptable. That sort of accusation carried a massive amount of weight, and Kitsuki seemed either oblivious to that fact, or selfish in regards to whom he was setting on fire with it. However, he had only named Negisa, which lessened the blow. Negisa was one, and if they had to, the Spider would remove her from their clan in order to keep her shame from befalling them. If anything were to come of it. That all depended on what Kitsuki divulged to Asahina.
Katsumi leaned in close to Kitsuki, hoping he would give her the answer she was looking for. “Did you tell him what you got into?”
“No,” Kitsuki said.
Katsumi nodded and replaced the cuffs on him. There didn’t need to be any more writing. She didn’t need to know anything else. He had said the one thing that mattered, answered the only question that would determine how quickly this situation was going to spin out of control. If he had even uttered the word maho, things were going to become much messier in the following hours. At least this way it was only Kitsuki who forfeited his life and he didn’t shove Asahina into the same predicament.
Kitsuki was right about one thing in the paranoid letter he had written. Negisa was behind his unprovoked attack against Asahina. Katsumi knew the power that Negisa held when it came to blood magic. She didn’t understand it, nor did she care to. It wasn’t a path that appealed to her, too uncontrolled and too much dependence on strength outside of oneself. But when the kansin answered, it proved to be very, very powerful. Causing Kitsuki to lash out at Asahina would have been an easy task for the maligned spirits.
It all made sense now, the series of events that led up to the wedding. Negisa had found Katsumi earlier in the morning, before the wedding had taken place. In addition to providing a special mix of tea that cleared away the fogginess from staying awake all night, Negisa had said something that Katsumi had thought only polite advice at the time. She had said she had something that needed to be taken care of immediately, indicating she wouldn’t be at the wedding, and suggested Katsumi place herself near Asahina for the ceremony. Katsumi knew better than to ask what was so important, but clearly it was her way of ducking out of the public eye long enough to enact the ritual and appease the kansin into toying with Kitsuki. That was probably the only thing he had right in whatever his delusional theory was.
Negisa wasn’t a threat to anyone except those that threatened her. Kitsuki’s loose lips had targeted him, and his… whatever his plan was to pin on Negisa only added kindling to his pyre. There was nothing to stop or stall her from doing, besides destroying Kitsuki, and he brought that on himself. Furthermore, if he understood she was family, why would he even consider Katsumi would stand against her own sister? Did Kitsuki not understand what family meant? That was obviously the case. He had made the decision for her in his mind and believed she would so quickly align herself with someone who would break his word of trust only days after giving it to Negisa. Katsumi wasn’t going to be played in that manner. No, Negisa had been there since before Katsumi could recall, and Kitsuki? Kitsuki was proving to be only in it for himself, only in it for his small amount of honor he had left, which was fastly diminishing.
***
The
rest of the wedding proceeded as it should. Even with Kitsuki’s attempt
to ruin things, the day was far from falling apart. It seemed Mikoto
had even made it all the better by showing Kitsuki exactly how she felt
about his disruptive behavior. After Katsumi had carted Kitsuki off,
Yanagi had only to give the Kitsune priest a look before she continued
the ceremony as if nothing had happened. Now she was sitting next to
Yanagi, to her husband, and the reception had become almost a festival.
There was more food and drink than Mikoto could count, all provided to
whomever cared to wish her a pleasant and joyous marriage, and plenty to
see and do as well. Mikoto would have forgotten all about Kitsuki in
the mirth of the affair if not for the congratulatory praise she
received for giving him what he deserved. Even Yanagi looked at her
differently. It was a good type of different, like he was proud to be
wed to her after how she handled Kitsuki. It was a different Mikoto
would have liked to see in Katsumi’s eyes, but Katsumi was off taking
care of the troublesome Kitsuki. He’d pay for that as well.
“Congratulations, Daigotsu-san,” Tsuruchi smiled as he passed by Mikoto.
She almost didn’t realize he was speaking to her. First, she didn’t know him practically at all, but that didn’t stop most of the people who were there to celebrate. She didn’t know nearly any of them at all. And second, the name wasn’t hers. At least, not yet. Daigotsu Mikoto. It had a nice ring to it, but she was still training in the Matsu school, and because of that, she had to keep ties to her family in the Lion clan or be completely cut off as a Spider. That wasn’t something she was ready to do yet.
Next to speak with her was someone Yanagi obviously knew. He said some things about how beautiful Mikoto looked, and how lucky Yanagi was to have a woman willing to put someone in their place. And things continued on like this, more people she didn’t know telling her how lucky Yanagi was, and congratulating her on both her wedding and the way she handled the situation. It was strange to hear so many people praise her for her violent behavior. Never before had anyone made note that it was a good thing, she had always been scolded when her temper flared, but here it seemed they welcomed it.
Speaking of things that caused her temper to rise, Asahina approached. Mikoto narrowed her eyes at him. She still hadn’t forgotten what rushed her into this wedding in the first place. And although things were turning out for the best, Asahina was still to blame. She wished she could punish him for his actions, but if that were the case, he would learn about her child and everything would unravel at the seams. Instead, she swallowed her disdain for Asahina and smiled while he addressed Yanagi.
“Congratulations on your wedding,” Asahina said. “It turned out wonderful.”
“Thank you, and thank you for all of your help,” Yanagi smiled and sounded genuine. Mikoto watched as he kept his composure, even seemed grateful to Asahina. She was certain she couldn’t pull that off.
“Of course,” Asahina lapped up the compliment for the work he didn’t do in orchestrating it. Mikoto was almost certain Negisa and Yanagi had handled everything. “It was my duty. And to quote Shinsei, ‘For the samurai having done something, or said something, he owns that thing. He is responsible for it and all the consequences that follow. A samurai is intensely loyal to those in his care. To those he is responsible for, he remains fiercely true.’”
Maybe Asahina had a decent side to him. He just told Yanagi to protect her and stay true to her. She had little doubt Yanagi would already do both of those things, but he was the first to tell Yanagi to take care of her. It was somewhat… nice.
“Much appreciated, Asahina-sama,” Yanagi bowed and watched Mikoto as Asahina shuffled back into the crowd.
There was something about the way he was looking at her, something kind and gentle. Mikoto promised right then, to herself, and silently to Yanagi that she would remain loyal and true. She promised that the mistake she had made with Negisa and Asahina would never occur again. Yanagi would be the only one in her bed from now until she died. Well… Yanagi and Katsumi. She sighed and searched through the crowd. Katsumi hadn’t returned yet, and the day was wearing on to night. She wanted so badly to see her and to apologize for whatever she had done last night that had drove Katsumi into her angered state. Tonight she would be moving out of the house and into Yanagi’s place. That meant another night, and another day, until she could see Katsumi again.
“Congratulations, Daigotsu-san,” Tsuruchi smiled as he passed by Mikoto.
She almost didn’t realize he was speaking to her. First, she didn’t know him practically at all, but that didn’t stop most of the people who were there to celebrate. She didn’t know nearly any of them at all. And second, the name wasn’t hers. At least, not yet. Daigotsu Mikoto. It had a nice ring to it, but she was still training in the Matsu school, and because of that, she had to keep ties to her family in the Lion clan or be completely cut off as a Spider. That wasn’t something she was ready to do yet.
Next to speak with her was someone Yanagi obviously knew. He said some things about how beautiful Mikoto looked, and how lucky Yanagi was to have a woman willing to put someone in their place. And things continued on like this, more people she didn’t know telling her how lucky Yanagi was, and congratulating her on both her wedding and the way she handled the situation. It was strange to hear so many people praise her for her violent behavior. Never before had anyone made note that it was a good thing, she had always been scolded when her temper flared, but here it seemed they welcomed it.
Speaking of things that caused her temper to rise, Asahina approached. Mikoto narrowed her eyes at him. She still hadn’t forgotten what rushed her into this wedding in the first place. And although things were turning out for the best, Asahina was still to blame. She wished she could punish him for his actions, but if that were the case, he would learn about her child and everything would unravel at the seams. Instead, she swallowed her disdain for Asahina and smiled while he addressed Yanagi.
“Congratulations on your wedding,” Asahina said. “It turned out wonderful.”
“Thank you, and thank you for all of your help,” Yanagi smiled and sounded genuine. Mikoto watched as he kept his composure, even seemed grateful to Asahina. She was certain she couldn’t pull that off.
“Of course,” Asahina lapped up the compliment for the work he didn’t do in orchestrating it. Mikoto was almost certain Negisa and Yanagi had handled everything. “It was my duty. And to quote Shinsei, ‘For the samurai having done something, or said something, he owns that thing. He is responsible for it and all the consequences that follow. A samurai is intensely loyal to those in his care. To those he is responsible for, he remains fiercely true.’”
Maybe Asahina had a decent side to him. He just told Yanagi to protect her and stay true to her. She had little doubt Yanagi would already do both of those things, but he was the first to tell Yanagi to take care of her. It was somewhat… nice.
“Much appreciated, Asahina-sama,” Yanagi bowed and watched Mikoto as Asahina shuffled back into the crowd.
There was something about the way he was looking at her, something kind and gentle. Mikoto promised right then, to herself, and silently to Yanagi that she would remain loyal and true. She promised that the mistake she had made with Negisa and Asahina would never occur again. Yanagi would be the only one in her bed from now until she died. Well… Yanagi and Katsumi. She sighed and searched through the crowd. Katsumi hadn’t returned yet, and the day was wearing on to night. She wanted so badly to see her and to apologize for whatever she had done last night that had drove Katsumi into her angered state. Tonight she would be moving out of the house and into Yanagi’s place. That meant another night, and another day, until she could see Katsumi again.
***
The
wedding the Spider held wasn’t much different from any other wedding
Meintaro had attended. Not counting whatever had happened with Kitsuki.
Meintaro wasn’t even sure what had taken place, he was listening to
another prayer from the Kitsune, and then there was a scuffle to his
left and Kitsuki was on the ground with Daigotsu Katsumi sitting on him.
Kitsuki had yelled Asahina’s name, and Shiba had knocked a weapon from
Kitsuki’s grasp, so he obviously was attempting to harm someone, and the
name seemed like a give-away on who was the target of his intentions.
It was all very strange. He had asked Asahina about it after the
ceremony was over, and Asahina had indicated that it wasn’t the time to
talk about such things. Because of that, Meintaro found himself sitting
in front of a bunraku puppet show, largely not paying attention to the
story, instead lost in his thoughts about what had taken place earlier
in the day.
“Tsuruchi-san,” Asahina appeared next to Meintaro. He didn’t so much appear as he probably had walked up and sat down without Meintaro noticing. “I wanted to address what we were talking about earlier.”
Meintaro looked around, there were several other people sitting nearby watching the play. “Right, we should probably find a place a little less open,” he suggested.
“I don’t know where,” Asahina muttered, “I don’t really know what is safe anymore.”
“I can tell you that the middle of a production is definitely not safe, at all,” Meintaro stood and gestured for Asahina to follow. He walked towards an alley just off the main street. Not far so that they were completely alone, but not too close so that any passerby could overhear their conversation. Asahina followed without question.
“Right, here’s better,” Meintaro nodded after scanning the area. “So, do you know what that business was about?” He jumped right into it, desperately curious to know what had provoked Kitsuki. Meintaro didn’t know Kitsuki well, he had only met him a few days ago, but there were some things that proved to be strange about the whole encounter at the ceremony today.
“I have no idea,” Asahina shook his head. “The thing is, somebody who I… trust, I guess was attempting to attack me, and… I feel like there are outside influences involved.”
“Well, he was walking,” Meintaro pointed out. How much could you trust a guy who pretended to be a cripple and then proved not to be?
“Yeah, with all the weird stuff happening…” Asahina trailed off, leaving the thought unfinished.
“Kitsuki is either really good at not walking ever, and then walking, or led us to believe that was the case,” He mentioned again. It was clear he didn’t just suddenly start walking today and decided he was going to use his newfound ability to attack Asahina.
“Yeah, so… that’s stuff I don’t understand. And, I really don’t know what to do about this,” Asahina confided. Asahina didn’t seem to know what to do about anything lately. Meintaro had heard him say it a dozen or so times with the Naga, and now he was doing the same here. Meintaro wanted to give Asahina the direction he so desperately needed, but didn’t want to overstep his bounds.
“Perhaps you should go talk with him,” he suggested. It was simple and if you wanted to quickly find the underlying cause of things, you always went straight to the source.
“Yeah, I thought about that, but with our Captain of the Guard now… changing clans, essentially-”
“Who’s that? Oh!” Asahina was talking about Matsu who had just been married into the Spider; she was Captain of the Guard? That was news to him. “Right,” Meintaro nodded, now following.
“And the whole mess with your brother…”
“Right,” Meintaro nodded again, waiting for Asahina to draw his point to a close.
“I’m really starting to expect foul play. I don’t know if somebody in particular is attempting to cause chaos, or gain control, or… I don’t know. I would think maybe… maybe Shiba has some insight on this since she is the captain of our yojimbo. She should be aware if there were some sort of plot to - I don’t know. It just doesn’t make sense.”
“That brings up a lot of questions, if that were the case,” Meintaro considered the possibility. It didn’t make much sense for someone to be using it as a means to gain control over anything. “If someone was going to try to have you killed, yet you suspect foul play, why would they use someone like Kitsuki, who is not in a good position to do you harm, in the middle of a wedding?”
“Yeah,” Asahina agreed.
“And he obviously wasn’t very capable. At all. He was stopped faster than anyone really could follow what had just taken place.”
“Right, and that’s just it,” Asahina exclaimed excitedly, then leaned in and lowered his voice, “He had approached me earlier, and seemed very concerned that we were in danger. The plan was to figure it out later, after the wedding. I guess someone else got to him first. I don’t think he would have approached me if he were being dishonest himself.”
“So this is all part of an elaborate plot? But it still seems like a poor elaborate plot.”
“I try to go for the simplest explanation of things. Too many things have been happening, but connecting them all seems too complex. I don’t know. All I’m saying is we should all keep on our toes.”
“Regardless, he still made an attempt on you,” Meintaro noted. Whatever this plot was, and whoever was behind it, Kitsuki still drew a weapon and attempted to harm Asahina. That wasn’t something to be taken lightly. And he could walk. Meintaro just couldn’t get over that not so little detail Asahina kept dismissing.
“Well, this is essentially two of my captains that have gone down, and I’m counting your brother in that. I had my suspicions at the time that perhaps someone was trying to frame your brother because of the absurdity of someone trying to burn down the distillery, but it was out of my hands by then.”
“There are no coincidences,” Meintaro tried to save face when speaking of his brother. He was aware of Airo’s interest in fire, but he wasn’t going to come forward and disgrace his family any further by admitting Airo had made the choice himself.
“I don’t know… I just…” Asahina shook his head.
“Do you have any suspicions as to whom?” Meintaro asked. After noting Asahina’s dubious stare he added, “You don’t have to give me names.”
“I…” Asahina looked around, his gaze lingering on the crowd in the street for a moment. He then covered his mouth and leaned in so Meintaro could hear him. “I can only say that I have a fearful respect for powerful women.” Asahina drew back, finishing the conversation as normally as he could, “I think we should talk about this later.”
“Right,” Meintaro nodded, glancing towards the crowd but not seeing anything questionable. Just people having a good time in this faire-like wedding reception.
However, with Asahina’s final words, he began running over the powerful women they knew. First, there was Negisa, who ran things for the Spider. But if one were going to count Negisa, then one would have to count every female lead for the clans, like Utaku who ran the Unicorn, and Doji who ran the Crane. That was a little farfetched. Then there was Shiba, who was in charge of the yojimbo, and proved to be quick on her feet at the wedding. However, Asahina had implied he would be discussing this with her, which meant he obviously didn’t suspect her. Matsu did kick Kitsuki, but she didn’t seem to be very powerful. He didn’t even know she was Captain of the Guard. And there was Daigotsu Katsumi, who Meintaro still wasn’t certain what she did besides hunt decently and could take down Kitsuki faster than he could bat an eye. Moreover, she carried him off too, as if he were nothing compared to her. She also knew a lot of what was going on with the city, more than anyone else had filled him in on. Maybe there was more to this Daigotsu than Meintaro understood.
“Tsuruchi-san,” Asahina appeared next to Meintaro. He didn’t so much appear as he probably had walked up and sat down without Meintaro noticing. “I wanted to address what we were talking about earlier.”
Meintaro looked around, there were several other people sitting nearby watching the play. “Right, we should probably find a place a little less open,” he suggested.
“I don’t know where,” Asahina muttered, “I don’t really know what is safe anymore.”
“I can tell you that the middle of a production is definitely not safe, at all,” Meintaro stood and gestured for Asahina to follow. He walked towards an alley just off the main street. Not far so that they were completely alone, but not too close so that any passerby could overhear their conversation. Asahina followed without question.
“Right, here’s better,” Meintaro nodded after scanning the area. “So, do you know what that business was about?” He jumped right into it, desperately curious to know what had provoked Kitsuki. Meintaro didn’t know Kitsuki well, he had only met him a few days ago, but there were some things that proved to be strange about the whole encounter at the ceremony today.
“I have no idea,” Asahina shook his head. “The thing is, somebody who I… trust, I guess was attempting to attack me, and… I feel like there are outside influences involved.”
“Well, he was walking,” Meintaro pointed out. How much could you trust a guy who pretended to be a cripple and then proved not to be?
“Yeah, with all the weird stuff happening…” Asahina trailed off, leaving the thought unfinished.
“Kitsuki is either really good at not walking ever, and then walking, or led us to believe that was the case,” He mentioned again. It was clear he didn’t just suddenly start walking today and decided he was going to use his newfound ability to attack Asahina.
“Yeah, so… that’s stuff I don’t understand. And, I really don’t know what to do about this,” Asahina confided. Asahina didn’t seem to know what to do about anything lately. Meintaro had heard him say it a dozen or so times with the Naga, and now he was doing the same here. Meintaro wanted to give Asahina the direction he so desperately needed, but didn’t want to overstep his bounds.
“Perhaps you should go talk with him,” he suggested. It was simple and if you wanted to quickly find the underlying cause of things, you always went straight to the source.
“Yeah, I thought about that, but with our Captain of the Guard now… changing clans, essentially-”
“Who’s that? Oh!” Asahina was talking about Matsu who had just been married into the Spider; she was Captain of the Guard? That was news to him. “Right,” Meintaro nodded, now following.
“And the whole mess with your brother…”
“Right,” Meintaro nodded again, waiting for Asahina to draw his point to a close.
“I’m really starting to expect foul play. I don’t know if somebody in particular is attempting to cause chaos, or gain control, or… I don’t know. I would think maybe… maybe Shiba has some insight on this since she is the captain of our yojimbo. She should be aware if there were some sort of plot to - I don’t know. It just doesn’t make sense.”
“That brings up a lot of questions, if that were the case,” Meintaro considered the possibility. It didn’t make much sense for someone to be using it as a means to gain control over anything. “If someone was going to try to have you killed, yet you suspect foul play, why would they use someone like Kitsuki, who is not in a good position to do you harm, in the middle of a wedding?”
“Yeah,” Asahina agreed.
“And he obviously wasn’t very capable. At all. He was stopped faster than anyone really could follow what had just taken place.”
“Right, and that’s just it,” Asahina exclaimed excitedly, then leaned in and lowered his voice, “He had approached me earlier, and seemed very concerned that we were in danger. The plan was to figure it out later, after the wedding. I guess someone else got to him first. I don’t think he would have approached me if he were being dishonest himself.”
“So this is all part of an elaborate plot? But it still seems like a poor elaborate plot.”
“I try to go for the simplest explanation of things. Too many things have been happening, but connecting them all seems too complex. I don’t know. All I’m saying is we should all keep on our toes.”
“Regardless, he still made an attempt on you,” Meintaro noted. Whatever this plot was, and whoever was behind it, Kitsuki still drew a weapon and attempted to harm Asahina. That wasn’t something to be taken lightly. And he could walk. Meintaro just couldn’t get over that not so little detail Asahina kept dismissing.
“Well, this is essentially two of my captains that have gone down, and I’m counting your brother in that. I had my suspicions at the time that perhaps someone was trying to frame your brother because of the absurdity of someone trying to burn down the distillery, but it was out of my hands by then.”
“There are no coincidences,” Meintaro tried to save face when speaking of his brother. He was aware of Airo’s interest in fire, but he wasn’t going to come forward and disgrace his family any further by admitting Airo had made the choice himself.
“I don’t know… I just…” Asahina shook his head.
“Do you have any suspicions as to whom?” Meintaro asked. After noting Asahina’s dubious stare he added, “You don’t have to give me names.”
“I…” Asahina looked around, his gaze lingering on the crowd in the street for a moment. He then covered his mouth and leaned in so Meintaro could hear him. “I can only say that I have a fearful respect for powerful women.” Asahina drew back, finishing the conversation as normally as he could, “I think we should talk about this later.”
“Right,” Meintaro nodded, glancing towards the crowd but not seeing anything questionable. Just people having a good time in this faire-like wedding reception.
However, with Asahina’s final words, he began running over the powerful women they knew. First, there was Negisa, who ran things for the Spider. But if one were going to count Negisa, then one would have to count every female lead for the clans, like Utaku who ran the Unicorn, and Doji who ran the Crane. That was a little farfetched. Then there was Shiba, who was in charge of the yojimbo, and proved to be quick on her feet at the wedding. However, Asahina had implied he would be discussing this with her, which meant he obviously didn’t suspect her. Matsu did kick Kitsuki, but she didn’t seem to be very powerful. He didn’t even know she was Captain of the Guard. And there was Daigotsu Katsumi, who Meintaro still wasn’t certain what she did besides hunt decently and could take down Kitsuki faster than he could bat an eye. Moreover, she carried him off too, as if he were nothing compared to her. She also knew a lot of what was going on with the city, more than anyone else had filled him in on. Maybe there was more to this Daigotsu than Meintaro understood.
***
Morasahi
had no problem finding Yuji after the reception had begun. She had to
make appearances, and so did he, being her advisor and practically
running the Phoenix. But after that, he looked to be waiting for her, as
if he had nothing more he wished to do than follow her back to her room
and play Go. It was flattering, in a way. So she took him to Asahina’s
house and to her room and slid the door closed leaving the two of them
alone with all the noise of the world blocked out. She setup the board,
nervous of what would come next, but trying to concentrate on separating
the stones by color and determining what strategy she would employ with
Yuji.
“How about we place a wager on this?” Yuji suggested. Morasahi’s interest piqued. Yuji wasn’t the type to place bets or try to determine outcomes. This would prove to be very special, indeed.
“Um, what’s the wager?” She timidly asked.
“Hm, how about we call it Emperor of the board? Whoever wins gets to be Emperor,” Yuji smiled charismatically. He was so very handsome when he smiled like that.
“O-okay,” Morasahi nodded, trying to predict what sort of things Yuji had in mind. She knew what she would do if she won, and she beat him plenty enough that she had a chance. Yuji, however, also beat her plenty enough that he could become Emperor and then where would that leave them?
Morasahi barely had time to contemplate Yuji’s intentions before the game was over. Clearly he was distracted with whatever he had been considering, because she not only beat him, but in record time. He wasn’t at all himself during the game. Which was fine enough for her, seeing as how she was now Emperor and he had just made this night easier on her. She pulled out a bottle of sake, set out two cups and smiled.
“As Empress, I command you to drink.” And Yuji did. Morasahi drank as well. They shared the bottle before Morasahi called for another, she was still well aware of how nervous she was about throwing herself at Yuji.
“Is that all you desire, Okami-sama?” Yuji leaned close to her, holding out his cup for another fill. “I would think that with your rule, more than drinking would be had.”
Morasahi’s breath quickened. “I-um… Yes. No. I mean… I think I want your kimono. It’s… um, nicer than mine.”
“Anything for you, Okami-sama,” Yuji whispered in her ear and leaned back, untying his obi. He took off the outermost layer of his kimono and folded it neatly for her. Kneeling he presented his clothes to Morasahi and purred, “Will you be trying them on, Okami-sama? I would love to see you in them.”
Morasahi poured another drink for herself. She also filled Yuji’s cup that he had discarded while he took off the first layer of his clothing. “In time,” she felt her voice crack. “For now, drink with me.”
Yuji drank another glass. Morasahi’s thoughts raced. Yuji was trying to get her to disrobe in front of him. That was a good thing, but it still made her tense up at the thought of misreading his signals. However, it wasn’t like she was forcing him to show interest in her, he was obviously interested of his own accord with the way he had been talking. And how close he had gotten. If she pushed the envelope and told him to kiss her, would he do it because he wanted to or because he lost a bet? She wasn’t sure. All this guessing was filling up her head when she should be focusing on what to be doing next. If nothing happened, if she didn’t pursue Yuji, Negisa would surely find out and… Well, she didn’t know what Negisa would do. Nevertheless, she knew this was her only real chance to find out exactly how he felt about her. Morasahi didn’t want to ask, what if it was something terrible and it was only because she won? The circles in her head were beginning to drive her mad.
“If I asked you to kiss me, would you?” Morasahi watched Yuji intently for his answer.
“I would do whatever you asked of me,” Yuji stared into her eyes. There wasn’t a stutter; there wasn’t any sort of reservation. He said it as if he had it on his mind all along. “Is that what you decree, Okami-sama?”
“Don’t call me that, anymore,” Morasahi shook her head.
“I won’t,” Yuji leaned forward and bumped his nose to Morasahi’s, brushing the tips together before he put his mouth to hers.
She melted. The kiss was soft, but not weak. It was perfectly balanced, the way she had always imagined kissing him would be. He gently leaned his weight against her, Morasahi leaned back, landing on her hands, and propping herself up. The kiss ended and eventually Morasahi opened her eyes. Yuji leaned over her, studying her face. She smiled in response; she couldn’t help but smile. This was something she had dreamed about. She hadn’t asked him to kiss her; it was his choice to have done so.
“I-um… Let’s do that again,” Morasahi blushed.
“Anything for you, Morasahi.”
“So, what was that?” Asahina demanded.
Kitsuki’s face went slack and he shook his head staring off at the wall. He wasn’t even looking at Asahina.
Asahina spun on Katsumi looking for an answer, “Anything to add here?”
Katsumi blinked. What did he expect her to say? Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t know any more than Kitsuki would be able to divulge. If Kitsuki hadn’t told Asahina about Negisa being maho tsukai, there was no reason he should be asking her. Denial was the safest route here. “I cannot speak for Kitsuki’s actions.”
“I was hoping you would have some sort of explanation,” Asahina turned back towards Kitsuki and waited.
Katsumi watched Kitsuki as well. He had to choose his words very carefully; otherwise, he’d bring the wrath of the Empire down on everyone. On himself, on Negisa, on Katsumi, this whole town, and the whole Spider clan.
“I don’t want to bring up sensitive subjects,” Asahina’s voice changed from demanding to snide, “but how are those legs?”
Kitsuki pressed his lips and flexed his legs, bending at the knees and showing no difficulty whatsoever in movement. At least he was keeping quiet. Katsumi could prevent further disastrous events from befalling Asahina and anyone else as long as Kitsuki didn’t spread what they both knew.
“Okay,” Asahina nodded, shifting his weight from one foot to the next. “The way it is right now, you’re looking a lot like an imposter. An assassin. Part of some farfetched, ridiculous plot for what reason I don’t know. And… I just…” Asahina raised his hands. That was something Katsumi had seen before. The action like he was throwing his hands up in the air, ready to just give up, but he holds back, not lifting them above his waist. He had no idea what was going on. That was a good thing. It kept everyone safe.
“But you don’t believe that,” Kitsuki finished Asahina’s thought. Katsumi gave the faintest shake of her head without even intending to. Kitsuki just needed to keep his mouth shut. There was a way out for everyone if he just kept his mouth shut.
“It doesn’t always matter what I believe. Honestly, I prefer a simpler explanation than something like that,” Asahina snapped.
“I can’t give you a simpler explanation,” Kitsuki looked towards the floor, not meeting Asahina’s glare.
“Yeah,” Asahina retorted, “I know.” He again turned to Katsumi, waiting for her to make sense of everything. “Do you have any suggestions? You’ve been sitting with him for hours. Has he given you any indication of what his motives were?”
Katsumi also avoided Asahina’s gaze, locking her eyes on Kitsuki. “I cannot speak for Kitsuki’s actions.”
This time Asahina threw his hands up completely. Whatever he had come for, he wasn’t getting. He shook his head at Katsumi, a gesture that wasn’t needed. What did she do wrong? Then shook it at Kitsuki. However, instead of turning to go, he stopped. Katsumi watched as Kitsuki met Asahina’s glare then inclined his head towards the open door and nodded.
Katsumi glanced to the door, the Spider guards were still standing there, as they should be, outside. Asahina sighed and paced to the door, closing out the world so they could speak behind walls only the polite would pretend to not listen through. Katsumi shook her head again, she didn’t like where this was going. Whatever Kitsuki had planned couldn’t be good if he wanted to keep anyone but the three of them from being part of this conversation. He lifted his wrists as if asking to be released and mouthed the word, “Note.” He wanted to write some more. This was not good at all considering the last note he wrote was wrought with paranoia.
Asahina, however, obliged. He shuffled around the room finding paper and charcoal then watched Katsumi closely as he leaned towards Kitsuki and unhooked the clasps for his acupuncture cuffs. Katsumi would have smiled if she didn’t have such a great feeling of dread. Asahina was either intimidated by her, or unsure of her involvement in the whole situation. If Kitsuki had named Negisa earlier, he could have named her just as well and kept that from her. The growing concern for what Kitsuki would spin and what Asahina would believe overshadowed the compliment Asahina inadvertently made to Katsumi’s prowess. She jumped to her feet and joined the two on the floor so each of them could see what Kitsuki was writing.
Kitsuki began to scribble out the characters, Katsumi squinted her eyes to try to read it before Asahina was passed the note. She wanted to make sure Kitsuki wouldn’t say anything foolish. Unfortunately, the lack of sleep from the night before was quickly catching up with her and it was impossible for her to read upside-down and from that distance with the small amount of light in the room. Kitsuki finished his note and slid it towards Asahina, who picked it up and read it. He then handed the paper to Katsumi for her to read.
Kuso. Katsumi glared at Kitsuki. This was exactly what she was worried about when she thought he might say something foolish. He just implemented the entire Spider clan in his paranoid delusions. Who else was he going to drag down with him?
“Alright,” Asahina said calmly. “I don’t know how this is going to pan out. I’m going to try to convince people to allow this to go to trail, but that isn’t customary.”
“I would appreciate that, and thank you for trusting me, at least,” Kitsuki responded. Katsumi grit her teeth and pressed her lips, she hoped Asahina wasn’t trusting Kitsuki as much as Kitsuki believed he was. Kitsuki was on thin ice and if he made another accusation like the one he had, he might not breathe for very much longer, whether Asahina was in the room or not.
“And this trial, with your newly exposed capability for walking, perhaps you might save some face through a duel. Who knows?” Asahina rambled.
“I don’t know why I can walk now,” Kitsuki said. Katsumi almost snorted, but at least he was keeping some secrets buried. “But when you set the trial date, please allow time for some Dragon elders to arrive so they can speak on my behalf. I know right now it appears that I may be some kind of assassin, that I may have deceived you, so I’ll need some people to testify on behalf of my character.”
Kitsuki scribbled on the paper once more and once done Asahina picked it up to read it. Again, he handed it to Katsumi as soon as he started talking.
“What I’m sure you understand is that I will be seeking out answers or explanations in order to…” Katsumi began shaking her head slowly, complete seriousness on her face. That was the worst idea, to delve deeper into this. Obviously, her action gave Asahina pause; he narrowed his eyes as if trying to understand why she was saying no, and then continued his former thought, “In order to save the face of our group.”
Katsumi looked down at the note, reading the last thing Kitsuki had written.
Katsumi sighed. He wasn’t going to make it out of this if things kept going this way. Katsumi just needed time to figure something out. Time Kitsuki was trying to snatch away from her with every word he spread to Asahina. She just needed Kitsuki to be quiet, and then she could have her time.
“Thank you, Asahina-sama,” Kitsuki said.
Asahina nodded and took a few steps away towards the door, turning and waving Katsumi over. She got up and neared him, worried what he was going to say that couldn’t be said in front of Kitsuki.
“Katsumi-san,” Asahina gently muttered, “Try to get a little rest. I know you’ve-uh… You seem a little stressed out. It’s been a weird couple of days.” Then he left.
Katsumi stared at the doorway. Did that just happen? Asahina had called her by her first name, and then showed concern. She was certain he regarded her with suspicion with everything Kitsuki had been saying, and now he was worried about her wellbeing. If it were anyone else, she would have believed they were trying to convince her to sleep in order for them to set Kitsuki free, or end his life, but not Asahina. He was much too honorable for such underhanded things.
She shook the thought from her head and closed the door.
Anjin slid the paper forward, towards Daigotsu who was still standing near the door, having just closed it minutes prior when Asahina left them. Daigotsu picked it up and stared at it. She didn’t answer. That was not a good sign. She didn’t even look at him. That was also not a good sign. You didn’t often look at the people you were planning to betray, at least, that’s what he believed was the case in people. Shame presented itself in a very particular manner no matter how big or small, and not looking at someone was a sure sign of it. She was going to turn on him he knew it. Anjin began writing a more detailed explanation. He had to convince her she was making the wrong decision.
Anjin lifted the paper and held it out to Daigotsu who stood over him. She had to understand he just wanted to keep Asahina safe. Daigotsu took it and slowly read it. She must have gone over it twice with how long it took her to finish. Anjin waited anxiously. If his life wasn’t worth saving to Daigotsu, maybe she would consider Asahina’s worth saving. He had noticed the time Asahina and Daigotsu spent together, including the walk she decided to take on the full moon with him. She at least considered him a friend, if nothing else, and Anjin wanted her to understand she would be putting two friends to death by telling Negisa of their plans.
Daigotsu folded the paper and slid it up her sleeve. Anjin closed his eyes and sighed. She had obviously made her choice. It didn’t surprise him when he felt Daigotsu lifting his wrists into the acupressure manacles, locking him up again. He opened his eyes and stared at her forlornly, she couldn’t be putting family before duty. Asahina was her lord. Anjin was her ward. Negisa was an obviously misguided woman who threatened the very fabric of the Empire. Anjin had no words for Daigotsu’s actions. She was going to tell Negisa and doom everyone.
Once Anjin was cuffed again, Daigotsu picked up the paper and charcoal, stowing them where Asahina had found them. Then she sat directly in front of Anjin. It only surprised him a little when she pulled out her wakizashi, the sharp steel reflecting the lanterns in the room. She was going to end him right here, he was sure of it. Daigotsu held it against her hand, blade down and her palm up, then she dragged it across her palm, slicing it open. Anjin recoiled. Daigotsu practiced maho too! Panic gripped his chest, she would turn him inside out, or drain his blood, or whatever it was that maho tsukai did.
Daigotsu slid her wakizashi away and held up her palm to Anjin, showing him her oozing wound. She shook her head and mouthed the words, “I won’t tell her,” giving them barely a breathy whisper.
What? Anjin had no idea what just happened. Daigotsu cut herself and promised not to tell Negisa. He knew he looked perplexed, he was perplexed, this act made no sense to him. Then she did it again, at least the shaking of the head and the repeating her promise not to tell Negisa. He glanced at Daigotsu’s face, then at her hand, which had stopped bleeding as the flesh knitted back together. That was not normal. There was no scar or mark where she had just been bleeding. It must be maho, what else would heal like that, and so quickly? Like his legs.
Anjin was now even less sure of where Daigotsu stood. Either she was choosing now to start lying to him, or she was just insane. Maybe it was some sort of explanation on why she wasn’t going to turn against Negisa. After all, if Negisa was maho tsukai, and Daigotsu was maho tsukai, her reputation was as much on the line here. Whatever it was, it was frightening, and even more confusing than when Anjin believed she just didn’t want to go against her own family. He cautiously watched her as she wiped the blood on her dark shirt, cleaning her hand of any trace of what had just taken place. He questioned her intentions when she opened the door and whispered something to the guards before shutting it and returning to a seated position. And he wondered about what the future held for him under her problematic care.
Anjin began scrutinizing every detail from the moment they met. If Daigotsu Yanagi knew both Negisa and Katsumi were maho tsukai, he could have planned this from the very beginning. From the very first time he met the Spider, this may have all been laid out. Yanagi placed Anjin under Katsumi’s care, so she could watch him and eventually lead him to the road where Negisa waited to pounce. If they managed to corrupt Anjin, as they believed to have done before Anjin’s conscience kicked in, then they could have had him carry out any number of devious plans. But because he showed resistance, Katsumi probably informed Negisa and they had decided he needed to be silenced before he could give them away. It was too perfect; they had maneuvered themselves into the optimal position. Now Katsumi watched over Anjin, if he died in his sleep, who was going to say anything? Who would say anything if they made it look like he attacked Daigotsu and the guards restrained him violently?
A knock at the door pulled Anjin out of the terrible web the Spider were weaving. Daigotsu opened it and was handed a small pouch and a teapot. She set them down on the ground and backed into her room, returning with a mortar and pestle. He watched as she dumped the pouch of what appeared to be plants into the pestle and ground them a few times, then bagged them in cheesecloth and dropped it in the teapot. She was going to poison him. Only cowards used poison, but considering how devious the Spider had proven to be, he had little doubt they were all cowards.
Daigotsu snatched a cup from Anjin’s tea set and poured the poison into it, then kneeled before him. “Drink this,” she commanded.
Damned if he was going to do that! Anjin pressed his lips and made no movement to obey. He wasn’t going to willingly let her kill him. However, he couldn’t put up a fight either, at least not a physical one, because that would allow her to use force back. So Anjin sat there, refusing to give into her demands.
Daigotsu sighed. “If you don’t drink this willingly, I’ll find another way to put you to sleep,” she said exasperatedly.
Not happening, no way. Anjin kept his mouth closed.
Daigotsu pinched his nose. Why didn’t he think of that? He held his breath as long as he could, but eventually he had to open his mouth to take in a few gasping breaths. At which point Daigotsu wrapped her arm around Anjin’s head, cradling it backwards and poured the tea into his mouth. He tried to close his throat and spit it out but the angle she held him at forced the tea down within fractions of a second. She had done it; she had accomplished her goal at snuffing out his life. Anjin was done for.
He glared at Daigotsu as she calmly backed away, setting the teacup back by the pot. He was going to remember this in his next life. He was going to remember the face of the girl who had murdered him. He was… going to… feel fuzzy. The poison was working. Anjin felt his body tingle and shut down. He felt his head grow heavy, and his eyelids weigh down, drooping closed. He couldn’t hold himself up any longer and toppled to his left, the darkness of the world swallowing him up, like he had Daigotsu’s tea.
“How about we place a wager on this?” Yuji suggested. Morasahi’s interest piqued. Yuji wasn’t the type to place bets or try to determine outcomes. This would prove to be very special, indeed.
“Um, what’s the wager?” She timidly asked.
“Hm, how about we call it Emperor of the board? Whoever wins gets to be Emperor,” Yuji smiled charismatically. He was so very handsome when he smiled like that.
“O-okay,” Morasahi nodded, trying to predict what sort of things Yuji had in mind. She knew what she would do if she won, and she beat him plenty enough that she had a chance. Yuji, however, also beat her plenty enough that he could become Emperor and then where would that leave them?
Morasahi barely had time to contemplate Yuji’s intentions before the game was over. Clearly he was distracted with whatever he had been considering, because she not only beat him, but in record time. He wasn’t at all himself during the game. Which was fine enough for her, seeing as how she was now Emperor and he had just made this night easier on her. She pulled out a bottle of sake, set out two cups and smiled.
“As Empress, I command you to drink.” And Yuji did. Morasahi drank as well. They shared the bottle before Morasahi called for another, she was still well aware of how nervous she was about throwing herself at Yuji.
“Is that all you desire, Okami-sama?” Yuji leaned close to her, holding out his cup for another fill. “I would think that with your rule, more than drinking would be had.”
Morasahi’s breath quickened. “I-um… Yes. No. I mean… I think I want your kimono. It’s… um, nicer than mine.”
“Anything for you, Okami-sama,” Yuji whispered in her ear and leaned back, untying his obi. He took off the outermost layer of his kimono and folded it neatly for her. Kneeling he presented his clothes to Morasahi and purred, “Will you be trying them on, Okami-sama? I would love to see you in them.”
Morasahi poured another drink for herself. She also filled Yuji’s cup that he had discarded while he took off the first layer of his clothing. “In time,” she felt her voice crack. “For now, drink with me.”
Yuji drank another glass. Morasahi’s thoughts raced. Yuji was trying to get her to disrobe in front of him. That was a good thing, but it still made her tense up at the thought of misreading his signals. However, it wasn’t like she was forcing him to show interest in her, he was obviously interested of his own accord with the way he had been talking. And how close he had gotten. If she pushed the envelope and told him to kiss her, would he do it because he wanted to or because he lost a bet? She wasn’t sure. All this guessing was filling up her head when she should be focusing on what to be doing next. If nothing happened, if she didn’t pursue Yuji, Negisa would surely find out and… Well, she didn’t know what Negisa would do. Nevertheless, she knew this was her only real chance to find out exactly how he felt about her. Morasahi didn’t want to ask, what if it was something terrible and it was only because she won? The circles in her head were beginning to drive her mad.
“If I asked you to kiss me, would you?” Morasahi watched Yuji intently for his answer.
“I would do whatever you asked of me,” Yuji stared into her eyes. There wasn’t a stutter; there wasn’t any sort of reservation. He said it as if he had it on his mind all along. “Is that what you decree, Okami-sama?”
“Don’t call me that, anymore,” Morasahi shook her head.
“I won’t,” Yuji leaned forward and bumped his nose to Morasahi’s, brushing the tips together before he put his mouth to hers.
She melted. The kiss was soft, but not weak. It was perfectly balanced, the way she had always imagined kissing him would be. He gently leaned his weight against her, Morasahi leaned back, landing on her hands, and propping herself up. The kiss ended and eventually Morasahi opened her eyes. Yuji leaned over her, studying her face. She smiled in response; she couldn’t help but smile. This was something she had dreamed about. She hadn’t asked him to kiss her; it was his choice to have done so.
“I-um… Let’s do that again,” Morasahi blushed.
“Anything for you, Morasahi.”
***
Katsumi had been running through
scenario after scenario in her head. Every possible outcome of the
situation with Kitsuki played out with her choosing a side between her
duty to her family and her duty to her ward. She wasn’t in the business
of breaking promises, but Kitsuki was just making it so very difficult
to keep him alive and to uphold her loyalty to her clan. She stared at
the floor, not wanting to look him in the eye. She didn’t want him
pushing her into a decision she would regret, like he had attempted with
the note. He volunteered her to help him, and then told her she had to do something. He didn’t get to direct her actions, and he sure as Jigoku didn’t get to pit her against her family.
“Asahina-sama,” a voice said from the other side of the door, which promptly slid open to reveal a rather irate Asahina. He entered in a huff and stared down Kitsuki. Apparently, Asahina took the ‘threat’ to his life a lot more personally than Katsumi had imagined he would. Granted, he wasn’t aware that Negisa had orchestrated the whole ordeal so Asahina faced little to no possibility of being harmed. That was information he wasn’t going to learn either. Nevertheless, Katsumi hadn’t expected Asahina to be so worked up about such a small attempt on this life.
“Asahina-sama,” a voice said from the other side of the door, which promptly slid open to reveal a rather irate Asahina. He entered in a huff and stared down Kitsuki. Apparently, Asahina took the ‘threat’ to his life a lot more personally than Katsumi had imagined he would. Granted, he wasn’t aware that Negisa had orchestrated the whole ordeal so Asahina faced little to no possibility of being harmed. That was information he wasn’t going to learn either. Nevertheless, Katsumi hadn’t expected Asahina to be so worked up about such a small attempt on this life.
“So, what was that?” Asahina demanded.
Kitsuki’s face went slack and he shook his head staring off at the wall. He wasn’t even looking at Asahina.
Asahina spun on Katsumi looking for an answer, “Anything to add here?”
Katsumi blinked. What did he expect her to say? Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t know any more than Kitsuki would be able to divulge. If Kitsuki hadn’t told Asahina about Negisa being maho tsukai, there was no reason he should be asking her. Denial was the safest route here. “I cannot speak for Kitsuki’s actions.”
“I was hoping you would have some sort of explanation,” Asahina turned back towards Kitsuki and waited.
Katsumi watched Kitsuki as well. He had to choose his words very carefully; otherwise, he’d bring the wrath of the Empire down on everyone. On himself, on Negisa, on Katsumi, this whole town, and the whole Spider clan.
“I don’t want to bring up sensitive subjects,” Asahina’s voice changed from demanding to snide, “but how are those legs?”
Kitsuki pressed his lips and flexed his legs, bending at the knees and showing no difficulty whatsoever in movement. At least he was keeping quiet. Katsumi could prevent further disastrous events from befalling Asahina and anyone else as long as Kitsuki didn’t spread what they both knew.
“Okay,” Asahina nodded, shifting his weight from one foot to the next. “The way it is right now, you’re looking a lot like an imposter. An assassin. Part of some farfetched, ridiculous plot for what reason I don’t know. And… I just…” Asahina raised his hands. That was something Katsumi had seen before. The action like he was throwing his hands up in the air, ready to just give up, but he holds back, not lifting them above his waist. He had no idea what was going on. That was a good thing. It kept everyone safe.
“But you don’t believe that,” Kitsuki finished Asahina’s thought. Katsumi gave the faintest shake of her head without even intending to. Kitsuki just needed to keep his mouth shut. There was a way out for everyone if he just kept his mouth shut.
“It doesn’t always matter what I believe. Honestly, I prefer a simpler explanation than something like that,” Asahina snapped.
“I can’t give you a simpler explanation,” Kitsuki looked towards the floor, not meeting Asahina’s glare.
“Yeah,” Asahina retorted, “I know.” He again turned to Katsumi, waiting for her to make sense of everything. “Do you have any suggestions? You’ve been sitting with him for hours. Has he given you any indication of what his motives were?”
Katsumi also avoided Asahina’s gaze, locking her eyes on Kitsuki. “I cannot speak for Kitsuki’s actions.”
This time Asahina threw his hands up completely. Whatever he had come for, he wasn’t getting. He shook his head at Katsumi, a gesture that wasn’t needed. What did she do wrong? Then shook it at Kitsuki. However, instead of turning to go, he stopped. Katsumi watched as Kitsuki met Asahina’s glare then inclined his head towards the open door and nodded.
Katsumi glanced to the door, the Spider guards were still standing there, as they should be, outside. Asahina sighed and paced to the door, closing out the world so they could speak behind walls only the polite would pretend to not listen through. Katsumi shook her head again, she didn’t like where this was going. Whatever Kitsuki had planned couldn’t be good if he wanted to keep anyone but the three of them from being part of this conversation. He lifted his wrists as if asking to be released and mouthed the word, “Note.” He wanted to write some more. This was not good at all considering the last note he wrote was wrought with paranoia.
Asahina, however, obliged. He shuffled around the room finding paper and charcoal then watched Katsumi closely as he leaned towards Kitsuki and unhooked the clasps for his acupuncture cuffs. Katsumi would have smiled if she didn’t have such a great feeling of dread. Asahina was either intimidated by her, or unsure of her involvement in the whole situation. If Kitsuki had named Negisa earlier, he could have named her just as well and kept that from her. The growing concern for what Kitsuki would spin and what Asahina would believe overshadowed the compliment Asahina inadvertently made to Katsumi’s prowess. She jumped to her feet and joined the two on the floor so each of them could see what Kitsuki was writing.
Kitsuki began to scribble out the characters, Katsumi squinted her eyes to try to read it before Asahina was passed the note. She wanted to make sure Kitsuki wouldn’t say anything foolish. Unfortunately, the lack of sleep from the night before was quickly catching up with her and it was impossible for her to read upside-down and from that distance with the small amount of light in the room. Kitsuki finished his note and slid it towards Asahina, who picked it up and read it. He then handed the paper to Katsumi for her to read.
“We must not speak before the Spider guards. And we must not send them away or they will be suspicious. We also must not be silent for long, or they will know we’re writing.”
Kuso. Katsumi glared at Kitsuki. This was exactly what she was worried about when she thought he might say something foolish. He just implemented the entire Spider clan in his paranoid delusions. Who else was he going to drag down with him?
“Alright,” Asahina said calmly. “I don’t know how this is going to pan out. I’m going to try to convince people to allow this to go to trail, but that isn’t customary.”
“I would appreciate that, and thank you for trusting me, at least,” Kitsuki responded. Katsumi grit her teeth and pressed her lips, she hoped Asahina wasn’t trusting Kitsuki as much as Kitsuki believed he was. Kitsuki was on thin ice and if he made another accusation like the one he had, he might not breathe for very much longer, whether Asahina was in the room or not.
“And this trial, with your newly exposed capability for walking, perhaps you might save some face through a duel. Who knows?” Asahina rambled.
“I don’t know why I can walk now,” Kitsuki said. Katsumi almost snorted, but at least he was keeping some secrets buried. “But when you set the trial date, please allow time for some Dragon elders to arrive so they can speak on my behalf. I know right now it appears that I may be some kind of assassin, that I may have deceived you, so I’ll need some people to testify on behalf of my character.”
Kitsuki scribbled on the paper once more and once done Asahina picked it up to read it. Again, he handed it to Katsumi as soon as he started talking.
“What I’m sure you understand is that I will be seeking out answers or explanations in order to…” Katsumi began shaking her head slowly, complete seriousness on her face. That was the worst idea, to delve deeper into this. Obviously, her action gave Asahina pause; he narrowed his eyes as if trying to understand why she was saying no, and then continued his former thought, “In order to save the face of our group.”
Katsumi looked down at the note, reading the last thing Kitsuki had written.
“I want no trial. I wish to stop or stall her, and then commit seppuku for everyone’s safety and my honor. Buy me time.”
Katsumi sighed. He wasn’t going to make it out of this if things kept going this way. Katsumi just needed time to figure something out. Time Kitsuki was trying to snatch away from her with every word he spread to Asahina. She just needed Kitsuki to be quiet, and then she could have her time.
“Thank you, Asahina-sama,” Kitsuki said.
Asahina nodded and took a few steps away towards the door, turning and waving Katsumi over. She got up and neared him, worried what he was going to say that couldn’t be said in front of Kitsuki.
“Katsumi-san,” Asahina gently muttered, “Try to get a little rest. I know you’ve-uh… You seem a little stressed out. It’s been a weird couple of days.” Then he left.
Katsumi stared at the doorway. Did that just happen? Asahina had called her by her first name, and then showed concern. She was certain he regarded her with suspicion with everything Kitsuki had been saying, and now he was worried about her wellbeing. If it were anyone else, she would have believed they were trying to convince her to sleep in order for them to set Kitsuki free, or end his life, but not Asahina. He was much too honorable for such underhanded things.
She shook the thought from her head and closed the door.
***
Kyuzo
rubbed his neck as he walked to his room. This whole situation was
becoming more impossible the more he learned. As it stood right now,
Kitsuki was in the middle of some sort of intricate plot where Kitsuki
had been working either with, or against Negisa. Or so Kitsuki was
claiming. Maybe this was all a ruse to pin something on the Spider that
didn’t exist. But then, Kitsuki had such conviction, it didn’t make
sense if he was making it all up. Kitsuki believed Negisa was a threat,
and Kitsuki’s belief was influencing Kyuzo’s. Kitsuki had no reason to
put his life on the line after he had already done so by attacking
Kyuzo. This was all so complicated.
“Asahina-sama, how did it go?” Kyuzo looked up to see Tsuruchi waiting in the hallway by Kyuzo’s room. Apparently, he wanted to be kept abreast of the situation.
Kyuzo just shook his head. There was nothing he could really say at the moment to make things any more reasonable than the intricate and elusive conspiracy that Kitsuki was spinning.
“Let’s go for a walk,” Tsuruchi suggested.
“Yeah. Let’s go.” That was something Kyuzo could get behind. He still didn’t want to talk here, and the further they got from the house, the better. He wasn’t sure whom he could trust anymore. They walked for a bit, slowly, just taking in the evening scenery. Night had fallen and fireworks had exploded above, commemorating the wedding. The Spider did know how to make something mundane like marriage into something grand and largely public.
“Well, Tsuruchi-san…” Kyuzo tried to figure out where to begin.
“Do you trust those two?” Tsuruchi said looking over his shoulder. Kyuzo followed his gaze to the Soshi twins who were standing twenty or so feet away. They were looking at Tsuruchi and himself, but they seemed to be keeping a respectful distance, allowing Kyuzo to have his conversation in private. Well, as private as one can get outside.
“I trust them to be them,” Kyuzo said. The Soshis were strange and always aware of what was going on, this was probably just another way they kept tabs on things. He expected no less, honestly. “But, I feel like the Scorpion want the Spider to have their ways around here and that’s exactly what’s happening.”
“That’s actually a fallacy,” a male voice called from the shadows. As if wrapped in the blanket of night and discarding it when he spoke, a middle-aged man stepped away from a nearby wall and bowed to Kyuzo. “Lord Asahina,” he said. He wore a half-mask covering the bottom of his face, which indicated he was a Scorpion, but he wore no mons for his clan, his family, or his school.
“Samurai-sama, master of stealth,” Kyuzo tried not to give away his surprise at the man’s sudden appearance.
“Please,” The man said plainly, “You honor me.”
“I’m sure you’re already aware a lot of strange things have been happening,” Kyuzo said, defending his previous statement that the Scorpion knew what was going on and allowing things to take place.
“Yes, that’s why I’m here,” The Scorpion responded.
“I’m sure you’re also aware that we’re out here attempting to have some privacy.”
“Understood. But know that I’ll always be close if you need me.”
“And you are?” Kyuzo pried. These Scorpion, you couldn’t keep track of them even if you tried. Always appearing out of nowhere and living up to the vile rumors about their dishonorable behavior.
“Shosuro Tomori,” He bowed again.
“Alright, Shosuro-san, if you’re going to hear our conversation, I’d at least appreciate if you do it openly and give us input,” Tsuruchi crossed his arms. Kyuzo shrugged. He hadn’t intended to allow Shosuro to take part in the conversation, but Tsuruchi had a point, how would they even know if he was there or not? Might as well get something out of it by having him take part in it.
“We have our suspicions as to whom it is, but I’ll hear yours first,” Shosuro explained, not even giving Kyuzo the option to decline the request.
“I’m just trying to gather my thoughts, at the moment, and be very clear on exactly why I suspect who I do,” Kyuzo carefully placed the words together. He had been told Negisa was behind everything, and suspected that if she was, then Kitsuki’s strange behavior was also a result of whatever Negisa had convinced him to do. However, that didn’t explain Kitsuki’s ability to walk. Or why Kitsuki followed through with the attempt to harm Kyuzo in public. That had to be Kitsuki’s own choice to do those things. “It’s really hard to distinguish between my beliefs and what I’ve been told. Though, the main reason I suspect this person would be because of the weird circumstances following the trial with the first Tsuruchi.”
“What weird things?” Tsuruchi asked, obviously unaware of the whole story of his brother’s trial.
“Well,” Kyuzo rubbed his neck, not wanting to go into details. The whole thing still bothered him. “Your brother resurfaced after I released him at the behest of Daigotsu Negisa. After I believed he was going to be executed by her hand.”
“If I may, Lord Asahina?” Shosuro interjected not waiting for a response to continue, yet doing so. “It seems that Daigotsu Negisa had tortured him for a day, and then held him, sending a letter to Meintaro here, with the intention of turning him over when he arrived. But upon arriving, he abandoned his brother and Negisa promptly took his head.”
“Right, okay.” This was information Kyuzo hadn’t been presented with before. Why had no one told him Negisa had tortured Tsuruchi, or that he was being held to face his brother? “I still don’t know though. It’s the way the whole thing occurred. I mean, who tortures people like that? And who ends up looking like that? I mean, after a day of torture I understand one wouldn’t look too pleasant, but-”
“Well, when you drain most of someone’s blood, it tends to make them look fairly pale,” Shosuro said in such a matter of fact way that Kyuzo began wondering if he had experience blood letting.
“And that’s just disgusting,” Kyuzo remarked unable to hold back his disdain for the knowledge held by Shosuro on torture techniques.
“Hm,” Tsuruchi grunted, “Knowing the punishment for arson, I would hate to know what the punishment for attacking the daimyo is.”
So would Kyuzo. He didn’t want the Spider getting involved this time around. If torture and beheading were normal punishment, then Kitsuki would be in store for something much more horrific.
“What information did Kitsuki give you?” Tsuruchi pressed.
“Not much,” Kyuzo admitted. Kitsuki hadn’t said hardly anything. He had claimed ignorance on his ability to walk. He had claimed ignorance on his murderous rage. Moreover, he had only indicated that Negisa needed to be stopped, but from what, or why, he hadn’t said.
“Well, suspicion alone is not enough to do anything,” Tsuruchi remarked.
“Yeah, and all we have is suspicion right now,” Kyuzo agreed.
“So, what do you think we should do about Kitsuki?”
“I’m afraid that he’s…” Kyuzo sighed and shook his head, unhappy with the answer he had to give. “He’s doomed at this point.”
“Why’s that?” Tsuruchi inquired.
“He did disrupt a wedding of the Spider, the first wedding in the Empire, in a Spider town, also the first in the Empire, by attacking the magistrate of that town.”
“Right. It did seem a personal amount of rage directed at you in particular. He did yell your name before he brandished a weapon at you.”
“Yeah, I know,” Kyuzo groaned. “And there doesn’t seem to be a reason for that.”
“If you truly believe he’s innocent and if you and Kitsuki have resolved your differences, it might be better to show your peaceful and forgiving side than-”
“I respectfully disagree,” Shosuro interrupted again. “The problem with that line of reasoning is that if you show you have a… softer side, the Scorpion will see it as a weakness. Same with the Spider, I can almost guarantee.”
Kyuzo knew Shosuro was right. The Spider wouldn’t allow him to go lightly on Tsuruchi Airo for attempted arson; they weren’t going to allow him to go lightly on Kitsuki after this grave insult. “Yeah…”
“If you truly believe he’s innocent,” Tsuruchi began again, giving Shosuro an intimidating stare, “Perhaps a lesser sentence, such as banishment, would be appropriate.”
“You could banish him to the Burning Sands. That could work,” Shosuro agreed.
Kyuzo shook his head. Banishment wasn’t really a ‘lesser’ punishment. Yes, Kitsuki got to keep his life, but he was removed from the Celestial Cycle. That seemed much worse than death to Kyuzo. “I want to consult with the Dragon leadership of this town. But other than that, I can only offer him a chance at seppuku. That really is our only option. That’s what is going to end up happening.”
“We have our doubts that he intended to harm you, anyway,” Shosuro added as if to assure Kyuzo he wasn’t alone in believing something was amiss with the situation.
“Exactly,” Kyuzo nodded.
“I also have my doubts that he is even capable of harming Asahina,” Tsuruchi smirked.
“I have no doubts in that regard,” Shosuro agreed.
“So, here’s the thing: Somebody used Kitsuki to get to me, and he’s the one that has to die. That’s a problem for me,” Kyuzo laid it out. It was obvious what was going to happen to Kitsuki, the problem was he didn’t know why it had to happen and who was behind it.
“Agreed, and unfortunately we have no leads to that,” Shosuro shrugged. “We believe that the first Tsuruchi, my apologies for speaking ill of your brother, was sent for a similar reason. Considering that he was attempting to destroy the town.”
“Honestly, it looked like someone was trying to point it to the Scorpion in this town with the last Tsuruchi thing as well,” Kyuzo revealed his suspicions. The way it had happened and the way Tsuruchi had said it was the Scorpion’s plot, it just didn’t feel right. Like someone was trying to start a fight between the Mantis and the Scorpion.
“That is why we are looking into this matter, as well,” Shosuro affirmed. “We actually think that this may go higher than that. There may be bigger and darker strings being pulled. Why take a Scorpion town and make it into a Spider town? Yes, we are in unaligned lands. Yes, we’re not supposed to be here. But why do it? Why not have them build a town somewhere that hasn’t already been claimed, and isn’t already thriving instead of taking it from us?”
“Good point,” Kyuzo nodded. He hadn’t thought about that before. Maybe this was bigger than Tsuruchi, than Kitsuki, than whatever the plot is for this town. Maybe it has to do with pushing out the Scorpion. It was as much a possibility as any other farfetched theory he had conceived today with the small amount of facts and large amount of hearsay that had been going around.
“Also, you might want to keep an eye on those Kitsune of yours,” Shosuro directed the suggestion to Tsuruchi.
“Asahina-sama, how did it go?” Kyuzo looked up to see Tsuruchi waiting in the hallway by Kyuzo’s room. Apparently, he wanted to be kept abreast of the situation.
Kyuzo just shook his head. There was nothing he could really say at the moment to make things any more reasonable than the intricate and elusive conspiracy that Kitsuki was spinning.
“Let’s go for a walk,” Tsuruchi suggested.
“Yeah. Let’s go.” That was something Kyuzo could get behind. He still didn’t want to talk here, and the further they got from the house, the better. He wasn’t sure whom he could trust anymore. They walked for a bit, slowly, just taking in the evening scenery. Night had fallen and fireworks had exploded above, commemorating the wedding. The Spider did know how to make something mundane like marriage into something grand and largely public.
“Well, Tsuruchi-san…” Kyuzo tried to figure out where to begin.
“Do you trust those two?” Tsuruchi said looking over his shoulder. Kyuzo followed his gaze to the Soshi twins who were standing twenty or so feet away. They were looking at Tsuruchi and himself, but they seemed to be keeping a respectful distance, allowing Kyuzo to have his conversation in private. Well, as private as one can get outside.
“I trust them to be them,” Kyuzo said. The Soshis were strange and always aware of what was going on, this was probably just another way they kept tabs on things. He expected no less, honestly. “But, I feel like the Scorpion want the Spider to have their ways around here and that’s exactly what’s happening.”
“That’s actually a fallacy,” a male voice called from the shadows. As if wrapped in the blanket of night and discarding it when he spoke, a middle-aged man stepped away from a nearby wall and bowed to Kyuzo. “Lord Asahina,” he said. He wore a half-mask covering the bottom of his face, which indicated he was a Scorpion, but he wore no mons for his clan, his family, or his school.
“Samurai-sama, master of stealth,” Kyuzo tried not to give away his surprise at the man’s sudden appearance.
“Please,” The man said plainly, “You honor me.”
“I’m sure you’re already aware a lot of strange things have been happening,” Kyuzo said, defending his previous statement that the Scorpion knew what was going on and allowing things to take place.
“Yes, that’s why I’m here,” The Scorpion responded.
“I’m sure you’re also aware that we’re out here attempting to have some privacy.”
“Understood. But know that I’ll always be close if you need me.”
“And you are?” Kyuzo pried. These Scorpion, you couldn’t keep track of them even if you tried. Always appearing out of nowhere and living up to the vile rumors about their dishonorable behavior.
“Shosuro Tomori,” He bowed again.
“Alright, Shosuro-san, if you’re going to hear our conversation, I’d at least appreciate if you do it openly and give us input,” Tsuruchi crossed his arms. Kyuzo shrugged. He hadn’t intended to allow Shosuro to take part in the conversation, but Tsuruchi had a point, how would they even know if he was there or not? Might as well get something out of it by having him take part in it.
“We have our suspicions as to whom it is, but I’ll hear yours first,” Shosuro explained, not even giving Kyuzo the option to decline the request.
“I’m just trying to gather my thoughts, at the moment, and be very clear on exactly why I suspect who I do,” Kyuzo carefully placed the words together. He had been told Negisa was behind everything, and suspected that if she was, then Kitsuki’s strange behavior was also a result of whatever Negisa had convinced him to do. However, that didn’t explain Kitsuki’s ability to walk. Or why Kitsuki followed through with the attempt to harm Kyuzo in public. That had to be Kitsuki’s own choice to do those things. “It’s really hard to distinguish between my beliefs and what I’ve been told. Though, the main reason I suspect this person would be because of the weird circumstances following the trial with the first Tsuruchi.”
“What weird things?” Tsuruchi asked, obviously unaware of the whole story of his brother’s trial.
“Well,” Kyuzo rubbed his neck, not wanting to go into details. The whole thing still bothered him. “Your brother resurfaced after I released him at the behest of Daigotsu Negisa. After I believed he was going to be executed by her hand.”
“If I may, Lord Asahina?” Shosuro interjected not waiting for a response to continue, yet doing so. “It seems that Daigotsu Negisa had tortured him for a day, and then held him, sending a letter to Meintaro here, with the intention of turning him over when he arrived. But upon arriving, he abandoned his brother and Negisa promptly took his head.”
“Right, okay.” This was information Kyuzo hadn’t been presented with before. Why had no one told him Negisa had tortured Tsuruchi, or that he was being held to face his brother? “I still don’t know though. It’s the way the whole thing occurred. I mean, who tortures people like that? And who ends up looking like that? I mean, after a day of torture I understand one wouldn’t look too pleasant, but-”
“Well, when you drain most of someone’s blood, it tends to make them look fairly pale,” Shosuro said in such a matter of fact way that Kyuzo began wondering if he had experience blood letting.
“And that’s just disgusting,” Kyuzo remarked unable to hold back his disdain for the knowledge held by Shosuro on torture techniques.
“Hm,” Tsuruchi grunted, “Knowing the punishment for arson, I would hate to know what the punishment for attacking the daimyo is.”
So would Kyuzo. He didn’t want the Spider getting involved this time around. If torture and beheading were normal punishment, then Kitsuki would be in store for something much more horrific.
“What information did Kitsuki give you?” Tsuruchi pressed.
“Not much,” Kyuzo admitted. Kitsuki hadn’t said hardly anything. He had claimed ignorance on his ability to walk. He had claimed ignorance on his murderous rage. Moreover, he had only indicated that Negisa needed to be stopped, but from what, or why, he hadn’t said.
“Well, suspicion alone is not enough to do anything,” Tsuruchi remarked.
“Yeah, and all we have is suspicion right now,” Kyuzo agreed.
“So, what do you think we should do about Kitsuki?”
“I’m afraid that he’s…” Kyuzo sighed and shook his head, unhappy with the answer he had to give. “He’s doomed at this point.”
“Why’s that?” Tsuruchi inquired.
“He did disrupt a wedding of the Spider, the first wedding in the Empire, in a Spider town, also the first in the Empire, by attacking the magistrate of that town.”
“Right. It did seem a personal amount of rage directed at you in particular. He did yell your name before he brandished a weapon at you.”
“Yeah, I know,” Kyuzo groaned. “And there doesn’t seem to be a reason for that.”
“If you truly believe he’s innocent and if you and Kitsuki have resolved your differences, it might be better to show your peaceful and forgiving side than-”
“I respectfully disagree,” Shosuro interrupted again. “The problem with that line of reasoning is that if you show you have a… softer side, the Scorpion will see it as a weakness. Same with the Spider, I can almost guarantee.”
Kyuzo knew Shosuro was right. The Spider wouldn’t allow him to go lightly on Tsuruchi Airo for attempted arson; they weren’t going to allow him to go lightly on Kitsuki after this grave insult. “Yeah…”
“If you truly believe he’s innocent,” Tsuruchi began again, giving Shosuro an intimidating stare, “Perhaps a lesser sentence, such as banishment, would be appropriate.”
“You could banish him to the Burning Sands. That could work,” Shosuro agreed.
Kyuzo shook his head. Banishment wasn’t really a ‘lesser’ punishment. Yes, Kitsuki got to keep his life, but he was removed from the Celestial Cycle. That seemed much worse than death to Kyuzo. “I want to consult with the Dragon leadership of this town. But other than that, I can only offer him a chance at seppuku. That really is our only option. That’s what is going to end up happening.”
“We have our doubts that he intended to harm you, anyway,” Shosuro added as if to assure Kyuzo he wasn’t alone in believing something was amiss with the situation.
“Exactly,” Kyuzo nodded.
“I also have my doubts that he is even capable of harming Asahina,” Tsuruchi smirked.
“I have no doubts in that regard,” Shosuro agreed.
“So, here’s the thing: Somebody used Kitsuki to get to me, and he’s the one that has to die. That’s a problem for me,” Kyuzo laid it out. It was obvious what was going to happen to Kitsuki, the problem was he didn’t know why it had to happen and who was behind it.
“Agreed, and unfortunately we have no leads to that,” Shosuro shrugged. “We believe that the first Tsuruchi, my apologies for speaking ill of your brother, was sent for a similar reason. Considering that he was attempting to destroy the town.”
“Honestly, it looked like someone was trying to point it to the Scorpion in this town with the last Tsuruchi thing as well,” Kyuzo revealed his suspicions. The way it had happened and the way Tsuruchi had said it was the Scorpion’s plot, it just didn’t feel right. Like someone was trying to start a fight between the Mantis and the Scorpion.
“That is why we are looking into this matter, as well,” Shosuro affirmed. “We actually think that this may go higher than that. There may be bigger and darker strings being pulled. Why take a Scorpion town and make it into a Spider town? Yes, we are in unaligned lands. Yes, we’re not supposed to be here. But why do it? Why not have them build a town somewhere that hasn’t already been claimed, and isn’t already thriving instead of taking it from us?”
“Good point,” Kyuzo nodded. He hadn’t thought about that before. Maybe this was bigger than Tsuruchi, than Kitsuki, than whatever the plot is for this town. Maybe it has to do with pushing out the Scorpion. It was as much a possibility as any other farfetched theory he had conceived today with the small amount of facts and large amount of hearsay that had been going around.
“Also, you might want to keep an eye on those Kitsune of yours,” Shosuro directed the suggestion to Tsuruchi.
***
“Who?
All five of the town guard?” Meintaro remarked sardonically. Matsu was
supposed to be in charge of the town guard, and it seemed that she
hadn’t been doing her job. Who knows how many people had actually been
recruited, or who was running things.
“Is that what they’re supposed to be doing?” Shosuro jeered. This guy was nothing but a mouthful of rude remarks, Meintaro thought. He had back talked Asahina, interrupted everyone, and now he presumed to tell Meintaro how to keep watch over his clan members.
“It is,” Meintaro stated firmly.
“Have you checked up on them recently?”
“I expect that since they are samurai, they’d keep their word on it,” Meintaro retorted. Who did this guy think he was? Just because he could sneak around in the shadows, and just because Asahina didn’t prevent him from minding his words didn’t give him the right to question everyone’s intentions and abilities. He was a Scorpion; they may not have morals, but the Mantis surely did.
“They’re keeping their word, in a sense. They report to the town guard, at least, what there is of it. Speaking of, have you got your Captain of the Guard established yet?” This time Shosuro was directing his pointed question to Asahina.
“That’s just it, more distractions. With the wedding and all of the goings on, I feel like this is just a distraction as well,” Asahina rambled.
Meintaro wasn’t entirely certain where Asahina was headed with this line of thinking. However, he knew full well that Matsu hadn’t been taking charge of her duties. Meintaro also lacked a position and saw this as his opportunity to step in, prove himself capable of handling something more than… well, than nothing. He didn’t have anything to do, and watching people work proved to be tiresome because he wasn’t doing anything but watching.
“She is marrying the head of the Daigotsu household here in town, who apparently takes trips often, so she will have to take care of the affairs of the house as well now,” Meintaro hinted, trying to convince Asahina that she wasn’t right for the position.
“Did you ask the Kitsune what they were doing here?” Shosuro brought the subject back to Meintaro and his ability to lead. Of course, he asked. Of course, he knew what was going on. He wasn’t useless, far from it.
“They said they had come back to their homelands,” Meintaro eyed Shosuro.
“Tell me again, whose lands are these?” Shosuro mocked.
“These are our lands, and that’s why they serve.”
“And what did they tell you? Doesn’t that seem strange to you at all?”
“It seems like they have nostalgia for their prior home,” Meintaro intoned. The Kitsune hadn’t been part of the Mantis clan for long and had previously lived in the same area this town now stood. Who wouldn’t want to go back to the place of their birth? Or even the place they grew up?
“Could be,” Shosuro skeptically considered Meintaro’s answer. “I realize that deviousness doesn’t come to other clans as easily. Forgive me for questioning one’s motives. So they told you they were coming here to return to their homeland?”
“Right,” Meintaro drawled. They had already gone over this.
“And all you did was tell them to go join the town guard?”
“Right,” Meintaro stated. This was getting nowhere fast. “I asked them if they had any objections and they had none, so-”
“Of course not,” Shosuro broke in, “You’re in charge of them, technically, so they followed your orders in addition to doing whatever they were doing. Maybe you should ask them about that.”
“I have a feeling you already know what they’re doing,” Meintaro monotonously declared.
“Sort of…” Shosuro pressed his fingertips together. “We know that they’re doing something but the specifics elude us. It’s definitely magic, it’s definitely not maho, and it’s not something that any of our shugenja recognize, so… we don’t know what they’re doing. And it pains me to admit that, too.”
“It’s a great day to be in charge,” Meintaro scoffed. Asahina had more on his plate than he realized.
“But they are doing something…” Shosuro assured Meintaro. Maybe he was warning Asahina. You never knew with the Scorpion.
“Alright. Once again I feel like I’m in over my head,” Asahina sighed. Meintaro could see that. He was thanking his ancestors he wasn’t in charge of this mess. Subversive failed plots, a cripple who wasn’t a cripple, unidentified magic, and a Captain of the Guard who wasn’t captaining, it was a knotted mess and there wasn’t any way to untangle things easily. And then the Naga, speaking of…
“Kitsuki was bitten by the Naga, and I’m not sure if they’re venomous, and if they are, he might be dead very soon regardless of our plan of action,” Meintaro pointed out.
“Talk to the Soshis, they know a little about Naga,” Shosuro suggested, pointing towards the women standing a short distance away.
“Soshi,” Meintaro called.
“Come join this conversation, Soshi-san,” Asahina waved the twins over.
“If you’re going to listen, you might as well,” Meintaro remarked snidely.
“It’s very hard to listen from twenty-feet away,” One of the twins said.
“I’m sure,” Meintaro fibbed. “Do you know if the Naga are venomous?”
“This one in particular is,” The other one answered. Meintaro hated when they did this. However, it was better than switching every other word as he had experienced from them in the past.
“How venomous?”
“It’s not any kind of venom that will last over time. It’s more of a… more of an acid.”
“Do you think it could kill someone in Kitsuki’s current condition?” Meintaro pushed.
“No. It’s used for digestion, rending flesh before they consume their prey. It’s very short acting and unless he got a massive dose of it, it’s not going to kill him.”
“Well, that settles that,” Meintaro turned back to Asahina. “He’ll be fine. When is Kitsuki’s trial?”
“Well, it’s more likely to be a sentencing than a trial,” Asahina rubbed his neck.
“They usually are,” Meintaro agreed.
“I figured we’d give him a few days to heal, and it will also give us a chance to consult with the Dragon leadership in this town so they have the chance to save their clan name, I suppose. In the face of all this tragedy, that’s all I can really offer. Like you said, we can’t run off our suspicions, just keep our eyes open, I guess.”
Asahina was getting the picture; Meintaro could handle any obstacle that was thrown his way. Maybe it was time to push for that Captain of the Guard position again. He had just proven that he could accomplish things quickly and efficiently. Even Shosuro noted that Meintaro was the only one who directed the town guard in any way, even if he was belittling his decision. Moreover, Asahina obviously listened to Meintaro’s advice; otherwise, he would probably be jumping at his suspicions and not actually considering the consequences of alleging someone in this convoluted plot who may be innocent.
“So, do you think you’re going to need a new Captain of the Guard?” Meintaro decided to test the waters. It never hurt to ask.
“No, I think she’s okay. I mean, she’s been very distracted lately, but otherwise she’s fully capable. And besides, we have had a bunch of contingencies coming in from different lands, I’m sure she’s handling it at her own pace. Allowing them to get here and get comfortable before sending them straight to work.”
“Hm,” Meintaro grunted. He didn’t believe Asahina really felt that way. Matsu had proven to be incapable, otherwise the Scorpion wouldn’t be asking about it as well. People were noticing her lack of initiative.
“We’ll keep all the eyes and ears open for you,” Shosuro commented, ending the conversation. It was headed there anyways; Meintaro could feel it. Everything had been said, at least everything that could be had been.
“Alright,” Meintaro answered for Asahina.
“I have no fear of wrongly accusing somebody in these circumstances. My intuition definitely lies against the favor of that certain individual. So, keep me posted,” Asahina imparted Shosuro with that bit of direction.
It was a shame that Asahina hadn’t said exactly whom he suspected. It was obviously the Spider, and he had a feeling it was Daigotsu Negisa, but Asahina hadn’t outright named her. Besides, what did his brother’s trial and his involvement with Negisa have to do with Kitsuki? He supposed it didn’t really matter. Meintaro was aware they were not related, as much as it amused him to hear Asahina refer to it time and time again in this new, overtly obtuse plot to… to do what? He never really got to the supposed end goal of what Kitsuki was being used as a pawn in. Asahina was too trusting of those he considered friends. Kitsuki was obviously a liar; he could walk, and probably could the whole time.
“As you wish, Lord Asahina,” Shosuro bowed and stepped against the shadow-draped wall.
Meintaro watched as he ducked below eye-level and snuck around the corner. Tricky way to do it. He looked at Asahina who obviously didn’t follow the Scorpion as well, since his eyes darted left to right, looking for what direction Shosuro had disappeared to. After a moment, Asahina turned and walked away. This whole affair proved to be less fruitful than Meintaro had originally anticipated. He had hoped that he alone could guide Asahina and advise him on how to proceed. Instead, it turned into Shosuro degrading Meintaro and giving Asahina most of the information that had positioned their next move. It was disappointing.
“Maybe tonight won’t be a complete disaster,” Meintaro sighed. “Soshi, would you care to join me for a trip to the brothel?”
Both of the Soshis grinned at each other, sharing a knowing look before asking, in tandem, “Do you know which one of us you bedded last time?”
Meintaro truly didn’t. He looked each of them up and down; they were so similar he had a hard time even telling who he spoke to on most occasions. Let alone whom he had slept with, especially while they were clothed and purposely attempting to confuse by being so alike. Well, if it was going to be a guess, he had to give it a shot. He pointed to the sister on the right.
“Good guess,” They responded, both taking his side and accompanying him.
“Is that what they’re supposed to be doing?” Shosuro jeered. This guy was nothing but a mouthful of rude remarks, Meintaro thought. He had back talked Asahina, interrupted everyone, and now he presumed to tell Meintaro how to keep watch over his clan members.
“It is,” Meintaro stated firmly.
“Have you checked up on them recently?”
“I expect that since they are samurai, they’d keep their word on it,” Meintaro retorted. Who did this guy think he was? Just because he could sneak around in the shadows, and just because Asahina didn’t prevent him from minding his words didn’t give him the right to question everyone’s intentions and abilities. He was a Scorpion; they may not have morals, but the Mantis surely did.
“They’re keeping their word, in a sense. They report to the town guard, at least, what there is of it. Speaking of, have you got your Captain of the Guard established yet?” This time Shosuro was directing his pointed question to Asahina.
“That’s just it, more distractions. With the wedding and all of the goings on, I feel like this is just a distraction as well,” Asahina rambled.
Meintaro wasn’t entirely certain where Asahina was headed with this line of thinking. However, he knew full well that Matsu hadn’t been taking charge of her duties. Meintaro also lacked a position and saw this as his opportunity to step in, prove himself capable of handling something more than… well, than nothing. He didn’t have anything to do, and watching people work proved to be tiresome because he wasn’t doing anything but watching.
“She is marrying the head of the Daigotsu household here in town, who apparently takes trips often, so she will have to take care of the affairs of the house as well now,” Meintaro hinted, trying to convince Asahina that she wasn’t right for the position.
“Did you ask the Kitsune what they were doing here?” Shosuro brought the subject back to Meintaro and his ability to lead. Of course, he asked. Of course, he knew what was going on. He wasn’t useless, far from it.
“They said they had come back to their homelands,” Meintaro eyed Shosuro.
“Tell me again, whose lands are these?” Shosuro mocked.
“These are our lands, and that’s why they serve.”
“And what did they tell you? Doesn’t that seem strange to you at all?”
“It seems like they have nostalgia for their prior home,” Meintaro intoned. The Kitsune hadn’t been part of the Mantis clan for long and had previously lived in the same area this town now stood. Who wouldn’t want to go back to the place of their birth? Or even the place they grew up?
“Could be,” Shosuro skeptically considered Meintaro’s answer. “I realize that deviousness doesn’t come to other clans as easily. Forgive me for questioning one’s motives. So they told you they were coming here to return to their homeland?”
“Right,” Meintaro drawled. They had already gone over this.
“And all you did was tell them to go join the town guard?”
“Right,” Meintaro stated. This was getting nowhere fast. “I asked them if they had any objections and they had none, so-”
“Of course not,” Shosuro broke in, “You’re in charge of them, technically, so they followed your orders in addition to doing whatever they were doing. Maybe you should ask them about that.”
“I have a feeling you already know what they’re doing,” Meintaro monotonously declared.
“Sort of…” Shosuro pressed his fingertips together. “We know that they’re doing something but the specifics elude us. It’s definitely magic, it’s definitely not maho, and it’s not something that any of our shugenja recognize, so… we don’t know what they’re doing. And it pains me to admit that, too.”
“It’s a great day to be in charge,” Meintaro scoffed. Asahina had more on his plate than he realized.
“But they are doing something…” Shosuro assured Meintaro. Maybe he was warning Asahina. You never knew with the Scorpion.
“Alright. Once again I feel like I’m in over my head,” Asahina sighed. Meintaro could see that. He was thanking his ancestors he wasn’t in charge of this mess. Subversive failed plots, a cripple who wasn’t a cripple, unidentified magic, and a Captain of the Guard who wasn’t captaining, it was a knotted mess and there wasn’t any way to untangle things easily. And then the Naga, speaking of…
“Kitsuki was bitten by the Naga, and I’m not sure if they’re venomous, and if they are, he might be dead very soon regardless of our plan of action,” Meintaro pointed out.
“Talk to the Soshis, they know a little about Naga,” Shosuro suggested, pointing towards the women standing a short distance away.
“Soshi,” Meintaro called.
“Come join this conversation, Soshi-san,” Asahina waved the twins over.
“If you’re going to listen, you might as well,” Meintaro remarked snidely.
“It’s very hard to listen from twenty-feet away,” One of the twins said.
“I’m sure,” Meintaro fibbed. “Do you know if the Naga are venomous?”
“This one in particular is,” The other one answered. Meintaro hated when they did this. However, it was better than switching every other word as he had experienced from them in the past.
“How venomous?”
“It’s not any kind of venom that will last over time. It’s more of a… more of an acid.”
“Do you think it could kill someone in Kitsuki’s current condition?” Meintaro pushed.
“No. It’s used for digestion, rending flesh before they consume their prey. It’s very short acting and unless he got a massive dose of it, it’s not going to kill him.”
“Well, that settles that,” Meintaro turned back to Asahina. “He’ll be fine. When is Kitsuki’s trial?”
“Well, it’s more likely to be a sentencing than a trial,” Asahina rubbed his neck.
“They usually are,” Meintaro agreed.
“I figured we’d give him a few days to heal, and it will also give us a chance to consult with the Dragon leadership in this town so they have the chance to save their clan name, I suppose. In the face of all this tragedy, that’s all I can really offer. Like you said, we can’t run off our suspicions, just keep our eyes open, I guess.”
Asahina was getting the picture; Meintaro could handle any obstacle that was thrown his way. Maybe it was time to push for that Captain of the Guard position again. He had just proven that he could accomplish things quickly and efficiently. Even Shosuro noted that Meintaro was the only one who directed the town guard in any way, even if he was belittling his decision. Moreover, Asahina obviously listened to Meintaro’s advice; otherwise, he would probably be jumping at his suspicions and not actually considering the consequences of alleging someone in this convoluted plot who may be innocent.
“So, do you think you’re going to need a new Captain of the Guard?” Meintaro decided to test the waters. It never hurt to ask.
“No, I think she’s okay. I mean, she’s been very distracted lately, but otherwise she’s fully capable. And besides, we have had a bunch of contingencies coming in from different lands, I’m sure she’s handling it at her own pace. Allowing them to get here and get comfortable before sending them straight to work.”
“Hm,” Meintaro grunted. He didn’t believe Asahina really felt that way. Matsu had proven to be incapable, otherwise the Scorpion wouldn’t be asking about it as well. People were noticing her lack of initiative.
“We’ll keep all the eyes and ears open for you,” Shosuro commented, ending the conversation. It was headed there anyways; Meintaro could feel it. Everything had been said, at least everything that could be had been.
“Alright,” Meintaro answered for Asahina.
“I have no fear of wrongly accusing somebody in these circumstances. My intuition definitely lies against the favor of that certain individual. So, keep me posted,” Asahina imparted Shosuro with that bit of direction.
It was a shame that Asahina hadn’t said exactly whom he suspected. It was obviously the Spider, and he had a feeling it was Daigotsu Negisa, but Asahina hadn’t outright named her. Besides, what did his brother’s trial and his involvement with Negisa have to do with Kitsuki? He supposed it didn’t really matter. Meintaro was aware they were not related, as much as it amused him to hear Asahina refer to it time and time again in this new, overtly obtuse plot to… to do what? He never really got to the supposed end goal of what Kitsuki was being used as a pawn in. Asahina was too trusting of those he considered friends. Kitsuki was obviously a liar; he could walk, and probably could the whole time.
“As you wish, Lord Asahina,” Shosuro bowed and stepped against the shadow-draped wall.
Meintaro watched as he ducked below eye-level and snuck around the corner. Tricky way to do it. He looked at Asahina who obviously didn’t follow the Scorpion as well, since his eyes darted left to right, looking for what direction Shosuro had disappeared to. After a moment, Asahina turned and walked away. This whole affair proved to be less fruitful than Meintaro had originally anticipated. He had hoped that he alone could guide Asahina and advise him on how to proceed. Instead, it turned into Shosuro degrading Meintaro and giving Asahina most of the information that had positioned their next move. It was disappointing.
“Maybe tonight won’t be a complete disaster,” Meintaro sighed. “Soshi, would you care to join me for a trip to the brothel?”
Both of the Soshis grinned at each other, sharing a knowing look before asking, in tandem, “Do you know which one of us you bedded last time?”
Meintaro truly didn’t. He looked each of them up and down; they were so similar he had a hard time even telling who he spoke to on most occasions. Let alone whom he had slept with, especially while they were clothed and purposely attempting to confuse by being so alike. Well, if it was going to be a guess, he had to give it a shot. He pointed to the sister on the right.
“Good guess,” They responded, both taking his side and accompanying him.
***
This
was the worst day of Anjin’s life. It really couldn’t get any lower
than right now, sitting in a room with Daigotsu, being treated like a
prisoner for something he couldn’t explain why he had done, let alone
imagine doing in any sort of sane mindset. He remembered that he had
attacked Asahina, or tried to, at least. It was futile with Daigotsu
sitting between the two of them, and Shiba had also joined in the
defense of Asahina. That wasn’t surprising. But Daigotsu, she was
supposed to protect him, and now he was sitting in a room,
thankfully not shackled any longer, being guarded by the sister of whom
he believed arranged the whole debacle to take place. He wasn’t sure how
yet, he didn’t know how Negisa could have forced his hand in this
matter. Nevertheless, he knew she had to be behind it. He had never
resorted to violence in all of his life, and in a moment of the most
overpowering rage he had ever experienced, that was his only thought, he
had to kill Asahina. It didn’t make sense on his part. She had to have
done something. Maybe drugged him. Maybe it was a side effect of her
maho. He hadn’t really discussed the details of what things had changed
inside his body because of her spell. Yes, he could walk now, and well
if he wanted to, but what did maho do to the rest of him?
Earlier he had revealed his suspicions with Daigotsu Katsumi about Negisa bringing this on him. Daigotsu didn’t refute it. She only asked if he had told Asahina about getting involved in maho. Of course he didn’t, he wasn’t about to throw away what little shred of honor he had left. It may come out in the future, but for now, it was their secret. Plus, he didn’t want Daigotsu Katsumi being dragged into this mess as well. Unfortunately, she was smack in the middle of everything and her name might get thrown in the dirt simply by association, that wasn’t something Kitsuki wanted.
Daigotsu, however, proved to be difficult to read on what her intentions were. She didn’t side with Anjin when Asahina was questioning him. Instead, she sat silently and shook her head in that menacing way she had done to get her point across that things were not to be spoken of. The way she had when Asahina was asking about Anjin’s poor night of sleep over a month ago, when she had kept him up because of her Curse of the Lord Moon. He remembered it because the look in her eyes said she wasn’t afraid to silence him if he said the wrong thing, and tonight she had that same look. Being a relative to the culprit may have more pull than doing what is right in the Empire to Daigotsu. This would prove to be disastrous to Anjin.
Quickly he wrote down a question to her. He wanted to explain why she needed to be on his side, why Negisa was not worth protecting.
Earlier he had revealed his suspicions with Daigotsu Katsumi about Negisa bringing this on him. Daigotsu didn’t refute it. She only asked if he had told Asahina about getting involved in maho. Of course he didn’t, he wasn’t about to throw away what little shred of honor he had left. It may come out in the future, but for now, it was their secret. Plus, he didn’t want Daigotsu Katsumi being dragged into this mess as well. Unfortunately, she was smack in the middle of everything and her name might get thrown in the dirt simply by association, that wasn’t something Kitsuki wanted.
Daigotsu, however, proved to be difficult to read on what her intentions were. She didn’t side with Anjin when Asahina was questioning him. Instead, she sat silently and shook her head in that menacing way she had done to get her point across that things were not to be spoken of. The way she had when Asahina was asking about Anjin’s poor night of sleep over a month ago, when she had kept him up because of her Curse of the Lord Moon. He remembered it because the look in her eyes said she wasn’t afraid to silence him if he said the wrong thing, and tonight she had that same look. Being a relative to the culprit may have more pull than doing what is right in the Empire to Daigotsu. This would prove to be disastrous to Anjin.
Quickly he wrote down a question to her. He wanted to explain why she needed to be on his side, why Negisa was not worth protecting.
“Will you allow me to stay her hand? I now only wish to save Asahina’s life. I fear he is in great danger.”
Anjin slid the paper forward, towards Daigotsu who was still standing near the door, having just closed it minutes prior when Asahina left them. Daigotsu picked it up and stared at it. She didn’t answer. That was not a good sign. She didn’t even look at him. That was also not a good sign. You didn’t often look at the people you were planning to betray, at least, that’s what he believed was the case in people. Shame presented itself in a very particular manner no matter how big or small, and not looking at someone was a sure sign of it. She was going to turn on him he knew it. Anjin began writing a more detailed explanation. He had to convince her she was making the wrong decision.
“If you tell her, Asahina will die. If you must protect her, then allow me to protect him. Allow me to write a confession taking full responsibility for the attempt on his life. Then let me take my own to preserve his, and to keep my lie from discovery.
But you must not tell her! He must be saved.”
Anjin lifted the paper and held it out to Daigotsu who stood over him. She had to understand he just wanted to keep Asahina safe. Daigotsu took it and slowly read it. She must have gone over it twice with how long it took her to finish. Anjin waited anxiously. If his life wasn’t worth saving to Daigotsu, maybe she would consider Asahina’s worth saving. He had noticed the time Asahina and Daigotsu spent together, including the walk she decided to take on the full moon with him. She at least considered him a friend, if nothing else, and Anjin wanted her to understand she would be putting two friends to death by telling Negisa of their plans.
Daigotsu folded the paper and slid it up her sleeve. Anjin closed his eyes and sighed. She had obviously made her choice. It didn’t surprise him when he felt Daigotsu lifting his wrists into the acupressure manacles, locking him up again. He opened his eyes and stared at her forlornly, she couldn’t be putting family before duty. Asahina was her lord. Anjin was her ward. Negisa was an obviously misguided woman who threatened the very fabric of the Empire. Anjin had no words for Daigotsu’s actions. She was going to tell Negisa and doom everyone.
Once Anjin was cuffed again, Daigotsu picked up the paper and charcoal, stowing them where Asahina had found them. Then she sat directly in front of Anjin. It only surprised him a little when she pulled out her wakizashi, the sharp steel reflecting the lanterns in the room. She was going to end him right here, he was sure of it. Daigotsu held it against her hand, blade down and her palm up, then she dragged it across her palm, slicing it open. Anjin recoiled. Daigotsu practiced maho too! Panic gripped his chest, she would turn him inside out, or drain his blood, or whatever it was that maho tsukai did.
Daigotsu slid her wakizashi away and held up her palm to Anjin, showing him her oozing wound. She shook her head and mouthed the words, “I won’t tell her,” giving them barely a breathy whisper.
What? Anjin had no idea what just happened. Daigotsu cut herself and promised not to tell Negisa. He knew he looked perplexed, he was perplexed, this act made no sense to him. Then she did it again, at least the shaking of the head and the repeating her promise not to tell Negisa. He glanced at Daigotsu’s face, then at her hand, which had stopped bleeding as the flesh knitted back together. That was not normal. There was no scar or mark where she had just been bleeding. It must be maho, what else would heal like that, and so quickly? Like his legs.
Anjin was now even less sure of where Daigotsu stood. Either she was choosing now to start lying to him, or she was just insane. Maybe it was some sort of explanation on why she wasn’t going to turn against Negisa. After all, if Negisa was maho tsukai, and Daigotsu was maho tsukai, her reputation was as much on the line here. Whatever it was, it was frightening, and even more confusing than when Anjin believed she just didn’t want to go against her own family. He cautiously watched her as she wiped the blood on her dark shirt, cleaning her hand of any trace of what had just taken place. He questioned her intentions when she opened the door and whispered something to the guards before shutting it and returning to a seated position. And he wondered about what the future held for him under her problematic care.
Anjin began scrutinizing every detail from the moment they met. If Daigotsu Yanagi knew both Negisa and Katsumi were maho tsukai, he could have planned this from the very beginning. From the very first time he met the Spider, this may have all been laid out. Yanagi placed Anjin under Katsumi’s care, so she could watch him and eventually lead him to the road where Negisa waited to pounce. If they managed to corrupt Anjin, as they believed to have done before Anjin’s conscience kicked in, then they could have had him carry out any number of devious plans. But because he showed resistance, Katsumi probably informed Negisa and they had decided he needed to be silenced before he could give them away. It was too perfect; they had maneuvered themselves into the optimal position. Now Katsumi watched over Anjin, if he died in his sleep, who was going to say anything? Who would say anything if they made it look like he attacked Daigotsu and the guards restrained him violently?
A knock at the door pulled Anjin out of the terrible web the Spider were weaving. Daigotsu opened it and was handed a small pouch and a teapot. She set them down on the ground and backed into her room, returning with a mortar and pestle. He watched as she dumped the pouch of what appeared to be plants into the pestle and ground them a few times, then bagged them in cheesecloth and dropped it in the teapot. She was going to poison him. Only cowards used poison, but considering how devious the Spider had proven to be, he had little doubt they were all cowards.
Daigotsu snatched a cup from Anjin’s tea set and poured the poison into it, then kneeled before him. “Drink this,” she commanded.
Damned if he was going to do that! Anjin pressed his lips and made no movement to obey. He wasn’t going to willingly let her kill him. However, he couldn’t put up a fight either, at least not a physical one, because that would allow her to use force back. So Anjin sat there, refusing to give into her demands.
Daigotsu sighed. “If you don’t drink this willingly, I’ll find another way to put you to sleep,” she said exasperatedly.
Not happening, no way. Anjin kept his mouth closed.
Daigotsu pinched his nose. Why didn’t he think of that? He held his breath as long as he could, but eventually he had to open his mouth to take in a few gasping breaths. At which point Daigotsu wrapped her arm around Anjin’s head, cradling it backwards and poured the tea into his mouth. He tried to close his throat and spit it out but the angle she held him at forced the tea down within fractions of a second. She had done it; she had accomplished her goal at snuffing out his life. Anjin was done for.
He glared at Daigotsu as she calmly backed away, setting the teacup back by the pot. He was going to remember this in his next life. He was going to remember the face of the girl who had murdered him. He was… going to… feel fuzzy. The poison was working. Anjin felt his body tingle and shut down. He felt his head grow heavy, and his eyelids weigh down, drooping closed. He couldn’t hold himself up any longer and toppled to his left, the darkness of the world swallowing him up, like he had Daigotsu’s tea.
***
Kyuzo
had just entered his room when another knock came from his door. He
looked at Sara as if she had the answers of what was going to come next.
The day had been a long and trying one, and Kyuzo toyed with the idea
of not answering, pretending he had already turned in for the night.
“Lord Asahina,” a male voice called from the other side of his door.
Kyuzo sighed and gave in, opening the door to a servant who was bowing in the hallway. “Yes?”
“Daigotsu Katsumi-sama wishes to speak with you,” the man said.
Kyuzo looked down the hall, she wasn’t in sight. “Where is she?”
“She is in the room of Kitsuki Anjin.” Did she really just have someone fetch him to come to her? It had better be important, he thought to himself.
“Thank you very much,” Kyuzo muttered and proceeded to Kitsuki’s room.
When he approached the Spider guards both bowed and opened the door for him without a word on Kyuzo’s part. That was the kind of behavior that he expected, not having to go to someone for their convenience. He stepped through the doorway, Sara following behind him and closed the door. As soon as he turned around, he noticed Kitsuki passed out on the floor in a peculiar angle.
“How’s it going?” Kyuzo asked raising a brow at Kitsuki’s countenance and Daigotsu’s lack of worry.
“I need to sleep,” She said, obviously exhausted.
“Yeah, I didn’t get much sleep last night either,” Kyuzo admitted. It should have been obvious, all of them had returned to town in the middle of the night, though he had spent most of the morning in conversation with Soshi.
Daigotsu flashed across the room and shoved herself between Sara and Kitsuki, who was now in an even more peculiar position. It appeared Sara had lifted him and repositioned him while they were talking.
“Inka?” Sara said. It could have been a question; it went up like a question did. Kyuzo wondered if inflection was the same in their language when questioning something versus stating something.
“You see what I’m dealing with, right?” He pointed to Sara while asking Daigotsu. Sara had made the last two nights nearly impossible to sleep. This is what he had to look forward to every night. Every night until she repaid her debt. A debt he didn’t even want to collect.
“Do not touch him again,” Daigotsu hissed.
“Dowansssin uusssana,” Sara replied.
“I find that if you talk to her normally, she gathers most of it,” Kyuzo offered.
“Do. Not. Touch him. Again.” Daigotsu slowly growled each syllable.
“Sara, just… calm down. Be still,” Kyuzo pleaded, trying to help.
“Untasssona duinsssinai,” Sara pointed to Kitsuki. Whatever she was trying to relay was lost on Kyuzo. He shrugged and turned back to Daigotsu who was watching Sara with burning eyes.
“So what do you suggest? Do you want me to help you with this? You want me to stand here while you get some rest? Because, I’m exhausted to tell you the truth.”
Daigotsu’s entire demeanor changed. She dropped her posture and looked down to the ground as if ashamed. “I apologize, Asahina. Go ahead and get some sleep,” She humbly offered.
That was a Daigotsu Kyuzo hadn’t seen before. In addition, did she just say she apologized? Had she ever apologized before? He tried to remember when she took her mon from him, she didn’t even say sorry then, well, not personally. She had wrote it in a letter that Kyuzo was still unconvinced came from her.
“I’ll tell you what, why don’t we do shifts? You get some rest and I’ll wake you up in a little bit when I start to get exhausted… well, beyond now,” Kyuzo offered. He couldn’t tell her no in good conscience and force her to stay awake another night. That, however, meant he would be spending yet another night getting half the rest he normally did. The people around him were going to be the death of him. Kyuzo glanced at Kitsuki at the thought, apparently some more literally than others.
“Thank you,” Daigotsu said glancing inside a pouch Sara had just gifted her. Yeah, Kyuzo was pretty certain Daigotsu hadn’t even heard him.
Sara withdrew an arrow and held it up. “Thank you,” she responded.
Daigotsu shook her head, which prompted a head tilt from Sara. “Arrow,” Daigotsu said slowly, then grabbed the end of the arrow and repeated it, “Arrow.”
Sara knocked Daigotsu’s hand away hurriedly. “Unna nana isssuni,” She hissed. “Usssadin indada tunginin, bleh,” Sara finished the sentence with an act that looked much like vomiting. Then she shook the arrow and repeated after Daigotsu, “Arrow.”
“Yes,” Daigotsu nodded. Well, at least Sara learned something correct from someone. She now knew what an arrow was.
Sara pointed at her head, “Yes.”
Kyuzo sighed. So much for learning something correctly. Daigotsu gave him a questioning glance, “What have you been teaching her?”
“I didn’t teach her that,” Kyuzo defended himself, “It was Matsu- er, Daigotsu- whatever she is now.”
“Right…” Daigotsu smirked.
“So she just gave you some medicine, I guess,” Kyuzo tried to change the subject.
“Yeah,” Daigotsu nodded sliding the pouch away.
“But this guy is already out,” he pointed at Kitsuki with his foot.
“Yeah, I gave him something. He’ll be out for a while.”
That’s what he had thought. It was somewhat obvious from Sara’s jostling of Kitsuki that he wasn’t asleep on his own accord. Any normal person would have woken easily because of it. Though, why Daigotsu drugged him was beyond Kyuzo’s understanding. Maybe Kitsuki asked her to, maybe he couldn’t sleep with his nerves on edge and Daigotsu concocted a way to help that. That also meant she knew how to make such things, which was a nice piece of information to have if it was ever needed. Kyuzo knew how to do most poultices and wound care as well, but he didn’t know everything. Combined they would have a wealth of knowledge on medicine.
“Would you like to sleep first?” Daigotsu offered.
“No, I got some rest this morning,” Kyuzo said, “Why don’t you get some?” He was certain he could go another few hours without passing out. Daigotsu, though, might not be able to. She had asked him for help, and how often did she ask for help? Not often, which meant this must be something she wasn’t sure she could overcome.
“Okay,” Daigotsu responded curling up on the floor of the room.
Kyuzo blinked, apparently Daigotsu planned to sleep right there. He looked over his shoulder towards her room, granted, he couldn’t see through walls, but he knew which direction it was in. He shrugged. If that was her choice, he supposed he had nothing to say on the matter. It was odd, but this was Daigotsu, who was always odd. Sleeping on the ground, without a futon, in a room with a prisoner, and a guard who could watch him, yeah… Daigotsu was an odd one.
“Lord Asahina,” a male voice called from the other side of his door.
Kyuzo sighed and gave in, opening the door to a servant who was bowing in the hallway. “Yes?”
“Daigotsu Katsumi-sama wishes to speak with you,” the man said.
Kyuzo looked down the hall, she wasn’t in sight. “Where is she?”
“She is in the room of Kitsuki Anjin.” Did she really just have someone fetch him to come to her? It had better be important, he thought to himself.
“Thank you very much,” Kyuzo muttered and proceeded to Kitsuki’s room.
When he approached the Spider guards both bowed and opened the door for him without a word on Kyuzo’s part. That was the kind of behavior that he expected, not having to go to someone for their convenience. He stepped through the doorway, Sara following behind him and closed the door. As soon as he turned around, he noticed Kitsuki passed out on the floor in a peculiar angle.
“How’s it going?” Kyuzo asked raising a brow at Kitsuki’s countenance and Daigotsu’s lack of worry.
“I need to sleep,” She said, obviously exhausted.
“Yeah, I didn’t get much sleep last night either,” Kyuzo admitted. It should have been obvious, all of them had returned to town in the middle of the night, though he had spent most of the morning in conversation with Soshi.
Daigotsu flashed across the room and shoved herself between Sara and Kitsuki, who was now in an even more peculiar position. It appeared Sara had lifted him and repositioned him while they were talking.
“Inka?” Sara said. It could have been a question; it went up like a question did. Kyuzo wondered if inflection was the same in their language when questioning something versus stating something.
“You see what I’m dealing with, right?” He pointed to Sara while asking Daigotsu. Sara had made the last two nights nearly impossible to sleep. This is what he had to look forward to every night. Every night until she repaid her debt. A debt he didn’t even want to collect.
“Do not touch him again,” Daigotsu hissed.
“Dowansssin uusssana,” Sara replied.
“I find that if you talk to her normally, she gathers most of it,” Kyuzo offered.
“Do. Not. Touch him. Again.” Daigotsu slowly growled each syllable.
“Sara, just… calm down. Be still,” Kyuzo pleaded, trying to help.
“Untasssona duinsssinai,” Sara pointed to Kitsuki. Whatever she was trying to relay was lost on Kyuzo. He shrugged and turned back to Daigotsu who was watching Sara with burning eyes.
“So what do you suggest? Do you want me to help you with this? You want me to stand here while you get some rest? Because, I’m exhausted to tell you the truth.”
Daigotsu’s entire demeanor changed. She dropped her posture and looked down to the ground as if ashamed. “I apologize, Asahina. Go ahead and get some sleep,” She humbly offered.
That was a Daigotsu Kyuzo hadn’t seen before. In addition, did she just say she apologized? Had she ever apologized before? He tried to remember when she took her mon from him, she didn’t even say sorry then, well, not personally. She had wrote it in a letter that Kyuzo was still unconvinced came from her.
“I’ll tell you what, why don’t we do shifts? You get some rest and I’ll wake you up in a little bit when I start to get exhausted… well, beyond now,” Kyuzo offered. He couldn’t tell her no in good conscience and force her to stay awake another night. That, however, meant he would be spending yet another night getting half the rest he normally did. The people around him were going to be the death of him. Kyuzo glanced at Kitsuki at the thought, apparently some more literally than others.
“Thank you,” Daigotsu said glancing inside a pouch Sara had just gifted her. Yeah, Kyuzo was pretty certain Daigotsu hadn’t even heard him.
Sara withdrew an arrow and held it up. “Thank you,” she responded.
Daigotsu shook her head, which prompted a head tilt from Sara. “Arrow,” Daigotsu said slowly, then grabbed the end of the arrow and repeated it, “Arrow.”
Sara knocked Daigotsu’s hand away hurriedly. “Unna nana isssuni,” She hissed. “Usssadin indada tunginin, bleh,” Sara finished the sentence with an act that looked much like vomiting. Then she shook the arrow and repeated after Daigotsu, “Arrow.”
“Yes,” Daigotsu nodded. Well, at least Sara learned something correct from someone. She now knew what an arrow was.
Sara pointed at her head, “Yes.”
Kyuzo sighed. So much for learning something correctly. Daigotsu gave him a questioning glance, “What have you been teaching her?”
“I didn’t teach her that,” Kyuzo defended himself, “It was Matsu- er, Daigotsu- whatever she is now.”
“Right…” Daigotsu smirked.
“So she just gave you some medicine, I guess,” Kyuzo tried to change the subject.
“Yeah,” Daigotsu nodded sliding the pouch away.
“But this guy is already out,” he pointed at Kitsuki with his foot.
“Yeah, I gave him something. He’ll be out for a while.”
That’s what he had thought. It was somewhat obvious from Sara’s jostling of Kitsuki that he wasn’t asleep on his own accord. Any normal person would have woken easily because of it. Though, why Daigotsu drugged him was beyond Kyuzo’s understanding. Maybe Kitsuki asked her to, maybe he couldn’t sleep with his nerves on edge and Daigotsu concocted a way to help that. That also meant she knew how to make such things, which was a nice piece of information to have if it was ever needed. Kyuzo knew how to do most poultices and wound care as well, but he didn’t know everything. Combined they would have a wealth of knowledge on medicine.
“Would you like to sleep first?” Daigotsu offered.
“No, I got some rest this morning,” Kyuzo said, “Why don’t you get some?” He was certain he could go another few hours without passing out. Daigotsu, though, might not be able to. She had asked him for help, and how often did she ask for help? Not often, which meant this must be something she wasn’t sure she could overcome.
“Okay,” Daigotsu responded curling up on the floor of the room.
Kyuzo blinked, apparently Daigotsu planned to sleep right there. He looked over his shoulder towards her room, granted, he couldn’t see through walls, but he knew which direction it was in. He shrugged. If that was her choice, he supposed he had nothing to say on the matter. It was odd, but this was Daigotsu, who was always odd. Sleeping on the ground, without a futon, in a room with a prisoner, and a guard who could watch him, yeah… Daigotsu was an odd one.
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