The sound of the morning bustle streamed in from outside the room, slipping through the shoji covered windows. She awoke, silently, and peered at the rays of light that shone through the apertures and onto the tatami mats. Her purple eyes blinked slowly, taking in the dancing light, as she rose from her futon, her long black hair sliding off her shoulders and pooling at her square block pillow. It was another morning.
The shoji door slid open with an elegant grace. It was the geisha woman. "Tsuihana-san? Are you awake?" the geisha's voice was lilting, and practised.
Her own voice was softer, and cracked due to her sleep. "Hai, Kanamo-san." Pushing the covers down to her knees, she calmly stepped out of the futon and stood up. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Kanamo-san." Her bow was deep, and her long black hair touched the tatami mats before she straightened up.
"Ohayou gozaimasu, Tsuihana-san." The geisha gave a kind smile. "Do call me Yuriko, Kanamo-san is so... formal."
"Yuriko... san?" She tested the name out on her tongue.
"Fine, Yuriko-san if you must." The geisha had a twinkle in her eye. "May I call you by your name too?"
"Hai, Yuriko-san, if you wish to."
"Then, Shiyuri-san," the older woman checked the girl's expression, making sure the sudden familiarity wasn't offending, "you might like to come down. There is a messenger for you."
The girl looked somewhat surprised, and the look in her eyes belied a desperate tone. "From... Saitou-san?"
The geisha smiled. "Hai." She stepped out of the small room, and quietly shut the shoji, leaving the girl to her morning ministrations.
Tsuihana Shiyuri had come to her little shop almost a week ago. Under Saitou-san's orders, she was to be fed, warmed, and cared for until further instructions. The instructions had only come now, and Yuriko could guess at why Shiyuri was so desperate for some action. The look in her eyes, the forlorn way she sat and the quiet tone she used always so politely... Yuriko recognised that look. The girl had lost something very important to her. So important, she had probably wanted to take her own life, if not for Saitou-san, most likely.
Her walk down the stairs led her to the small dining room the staff used. Sitting at the table was a girl not so much older than the eighteen year old girl upstairs, and she was shuffling impatiently, staring at the small spring blossoms in the centrepiece vase when the geisha arrived. Hikaru looked up expectantly, and her smile faded a bit when she realised it was only Yuriko.
"Ara, Hikaru-chan, didn't Kiri get you something to eat whilst you wait?" Yuriko was referring to her sworn sister, the ninja, who owned the eatery together with her.
Hikaru waved impatiently. "Nah, I'll get something when I get back to Saitou-san. Where is she, anyway?" Her curiosity for the "new girl" had won over her soft spot for sweet things, Yuriko observed amusedly.
"She'd be coming down soon, don't you fret." Yuriko heard the soft footsteps behind her. "Here she is, now." She turned gracefully, and behind her was indeed Shiyuri, her hair already braided and put up high on her small head, properly attired in a purple kimono. The fact that she had just woken up from yet another of her dreamless sleeps did not show on her face, in fact, she was almost glowing with anticipation. Yuriko smiled affectionately, liking this Shiyuri more than the empty shell she had observed the past week. She turned to Hikaru, her green eyes gleaming with interest. "Go-shoukai shimasu. This is Tsuihana Shiyuri-san, and this little girl sitting at the table is Kurohane Hikaru-san."
Hikaru pouted at the belittling comment. "I'm not a little girl! I'll let you know I'll be turning 19 this September!" Shiyuri's eyes grew larger at this outburst.
"I'll be turning 19 this November." She confessed, in her soft voice.
Hikaru gave a game grin. "That means I'm older than you." The silent girl gave a small smile herself, and quietly acquiesced to the superiority of the other girl.
Yuriko saw to her amusement that the two had hit it off pretty well. She silently praised Saitou-san's choice of the messenger. "So, Hikaru-chan, the message?"
"Ah! Yes! Almost forgot." The girl stood up from the table. "Saitou-san sends for you, Tsuihana-san. You're to come with me now. Are you ready?" The other girl nodded her head eagerly. Yuriko stepped up and passed Hikaru a small wrapped package, indicating that it was for Saitou-san. With that, the two girls set off.
"Ano... Kurohane-san..."
Hikaru made a face at the formal name. "Call me Hikaru. Hikaru-chan."
"Ah... sou... ano... Hikaru-chan, why are you... working for Saitou-san?" Glancing at the puzzled look on the other girl's face, Shiyuri attempted to explain herself. "I mean, you're only 18, maybe 19 soon, but working under Saitou-san implies..." She left her sentence hanging.
Hikaru smiled, not unkindly, but the smile held some measure of irony. "There are people in the Kagetai that are even younger than we are, Tsuihana-san."
"There are?" There was shock on Shiyuri's face. As far as she knew, working in the Kagetai, the Shadow Squad, the complement to the Shinsengumi, the darker side of the policing force in the capital, meant that you were either a spy or an assassin. In other words, someone whose work was far dirtier than the Shinsengumi. Kagetai was Saitou-san's little underground secret police.
Hikaru's smile became a little more curved as she gazed at the other's shocked face. "Well... you're working for him, aren't you?" Her tone had turned a little cynical. "To join the Kagetai, there are no age limits. Just the appropriate reason. And," at this Hikaru turned away from Shiyuri, "you're not the only one with a reason."
"Ah... sou... I guess everyone... has their own reasons..."
There was silence between the two as they walked the path to the Kagetai headquarters. It was, in reality, Saitou's own home, a respectable house housing Fujita Gorou (Saitou's new name), and his wife, Fujita Tokio, but was also the unofficial meeting area for Kagetai. Hikaru navigated the twisting corridors like it was her own home, and as she did so, Shiyuri noticed the small braided lock of white hair at her fringe. She was just about to ask the girl about it before they reached their destination.
"Hai... I shall leave you here then." With a twinkle in her eye, she grinned and gave Shiyuri an impulsive hug. "Don't worry, you'll see me later, Shi-chan." Shiyuri smiled at the girl as she took another way through the estate, and disappeared around the corner. The nickname Hikaru had given her was not lost on her, and Shiyuri dared to think that perhaps she would be good friends with this other girl.
Turning back to the shoji in front of her, she gave the wooden part a hesitant rap, and entered when a muffled voice came from behind the screen commanding her to come in.
The room was somewhat hazy, due to the smoke that hung in the air. Her new boss was sitting cross-legged in a blue kimono, his hand still holding a pipe, and he looked up at her when she entered. He put down the piece of paper he had been perusing, and stood up. Shiyuri hurriedly remembered her manners. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Saitou-san." She gave a deep bow at the man, who waved at her impatiently.
"Ohayou, Tsuihana." Saitou Hajime at this point of time was only thirty years old, but he looked older than his years, and his eyes had a sharp edge to them, his gaze seemed to penetrate walls and flesh alike. His well-shaped face had started to crease with lines, especially around his eyes, from the stress he faced at work. But it was still a sharp-featured face, handsome in those times, and he, despite all appearances, had only married Takagi Tokio a year ago. Most of this Shiyuri silently took in as he stood in front of her, appraising her.
He spoke first. "Has your decision changed from when we last met?"
She shook her head, and looked at him with determination. "Iie. It stays the same."
He seemed to give a sigh, and walked back to his seat, indicating that she should seat too, muttering under his breath, "Kids. All we get around here are kids..." Turning to face her, and silently noticing the practised way she knelt down on the tatami mat, his next sentence was curt and gruff. "Then I suppose you're in."
Her face lit up. She looked like she was about to burst, but she controlled herself, and gave a deep bow of respect and gratitude. "Hontou ni doumo arigatou gozaimasu, Saitou-san." He waved it away again, impatiently, having neither the stomach nor the patience for all these politeness.
"I have no doubt your ability at combat, Tsuihana, but for now there are no missions, so I'm sending you back to Yuriko. You are to stay there under her care, until there is a mission for you. Before that, make yourself useful. I'm sure Yuriko would find you something to do. Also," he looked at her, "try and keep out of sight. People are bound to remember that incident at the dojo for a few weeks, but after that, it will be just another atrocity, and then people would forget." The tensing of her facial muscles when he dismissed the incident as "just another atrocity" did not escape his gaze, but he pressed on, "I believe you are as yet anonymous enough to be one of our spies, so if you continue to keep a low profile, that job option would remain open to you." He brushed away her protests, pre-empting them. "I know you wish to be used in combat, but we need as many spies as we can. It is not to say that the two jobs cannot mix." He emphasised the last sentence, hoping that it would appease the girl.
In reality, Saitou had dealt with too many of these people, and thus, knew exactly what he should not use them for. This girl, he knew, had her brush with cruel reality a little too early in life, and too near to the present. She must not be used in combat, not now. She might not be able to control her own actions if she does.
His thoughts, as well as hers, were interrupted by a sharp rap at the shoji screen. "Saitou-san? Hikaru desu." He looked irritated, and asked her to come in. She slid the door with a practised hand, and gave a grin in the direction of Shiyuri, before facing Saitou again. "Saitou-san, I'm extremely sorry, but Yuriko-san told me to give you something." She passed the small package to Saitou, who glanced at her with an irritated questioning look, which was aggravated when the girl simply shrugged and gave him another grin, totally ignoring his implicit disapproval at her forgetting something so important. Hikaru shared a relationship with Saitou that was akin to an irritating younger sister to an irritated older brother, which was much closer than most of the other Kagetai members could or would have had. Shiyuri looked at Hikaru with some amazement, as Saitou quickly opened the package and perused the slips of paper.
His frown grew as he read. He went to the box next to the lamp, and pulled out some other papers. After cross-referencing Yuriko's neatly written notes to papers, which, when Shiyuri took a better look, were artistically written with an elegant brush script, he seemed to come to a decision. Standing up again, he turned to face Hikaru. "It seems like Yuriko's information confirm Shinobu's earlier suspicions." He referred to the spy Kagetai had in the Palace. "This list of nobles is supposedly planning something against the Imperial family. Very possibly assassination, maybe of the empress, or some princess, that's the most they'd be able to get their hands on. Their motive seems to be to create chaos in the Palace. It seems," Saitou's smile at this point was altogether not too kind, "they are Shogun supporters at heart, but bask in the glory of the emperor. And now that they see the tide is turning, they intend to help the Shogun supporters, in some small way..."
Hikaru understood immediately. "And because they are nobles, the Shinsengumi cannot interfere, so we get to do the dirty work." Her candid summary brought a temporary frown to Saitou's brow, before he pushed his irritance aside and perused the list some more.
"They intend to act soon, too. Which means..."
"They have to be killed tonight." Hikaru's green eyes gleamed.
"Something like that. They will be meeting tonight at the location indicated, no doubt to confirm their plans. It won't be long till they move." Glancing at Hikaru's excited expression, Saitou commented dryly, "I suppose you would want the job." He dangled the list of nobles above Hikaru's head. She grabbed it without effort, and started perusing it herself. He continued. "And I suppose, one of you is enough to finish the job?"
She gave a cheeky grin. "Mochiron desu!"
"Still, to be safe, get Yuriko to help you out." He stopped her as she turned to go out. "Do a clean job."
"What do you think I am? An amateur?" she retorted. With that she went out of the room, whistling as she closed the shoji screen behind her. Saitou-san looked at the shoji, and gave what seemed like a sigh. Turning to Shiyuri, who was now looking very excited, he gave his usual curt dismissal, which was a combination of a looking-down-at-papers and a point-at-the-door without looking at the person.
"Ano... Saitou-san?"
He looked up irritatedly. "I mean, you're dismissed. Get Hikaru to send you back if you don't know the way."
"No... I mean yes... I mean," she took in a deep breath, "Saitou-san, may I humbly asked to be of aid to Kurohane-san in the impending mission tonight?"
He winced at the sudden outflow of polite speech. And at the idea. "No, I said, you should keep a low profile."
"But - "
"No. Tsuihana, you are in no condition to fight."
"I disagree, Saitou-san, I believe I have well-recuperated from my wounds and I'm in perfect condition to fight - "
"Mental condition, Tsuihana, not physical." He dismissed her again, this time with a wave. "Go back to Yuriko's. There will be no more discussion about this." Shiyuri made as if to speak again, but Saitou put up a finger in her direction. A warning. She sighed, knowing that there was no winning this fight, not against this man. Calmly, she stood up and bowed silently towards the man, slid open the shoji, and walked out of the room. Outside waiting was Hikaru, the papers already stuffed into her kimono unobtrusively. The other girl gave a grin, and patted Shiyuri on the back.
"That's how Saitou-san is, you mustn't mind him."
Shiyuri didn't feel much better by that consolation, although she attempted a smile, for Hikaru's sake.
The walk back to Yuriko's shop was uneventful, until Hikaru took another route, saying they'd get less sun this way. The midday sun was partially blocked by the shop houses on their left, and they were both glad for the shade, for the spring was rapidly turning into summer, and the days were getting hotter. Soon, they would have to change out of their lined kimonos. Shiyuri smiled at the other girl, and finally got to ask her question.
"Hikaru-chan, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course. What is it?"
"Etto... may I ask why is that part of your hair white?" Shiyuri pointed at the braided section of Hikaru's fringe, which was very obviously and strikingly white in colour. It stood out among the sleek dark brown locks, and it highlighted the green of Hikaru's eyes. The girl looked surprised, and fingered the braid.
"This? Oh, I've had it since I was young, it's natural. I think it's kind of special," she confided.
"It is." Shiyuri smiled. Attempting to make even more small talk, she asked the next thing that came to her mind, her usual reserve pierced by this sunshine girl. "So, do you have any family?"
"Well, my mom committed suicide when she was held hostage, and my dad supposedly ingested one of his poisons." Hikaru had said this with a candid tone, but something flashed in her green eyes.
"I'm... sorry..."
"Nah, it's alright. All in the past..."
"I... I don't have any family either."
"Is that so?" Hikaru looked at Shiyuri, and for a moment, there was an understanding between them. Hikaru smiled at this strange silent girl, and threaded her arm through Shiyuri's affectionately, impulsively hugging the girl's arm. "So... we're practically alike... ne?"
Shiyuri smiled back. "Sou... desu ne!"
Yuriko was waiting outside her shop when they finally arrived, amid more laughter as the two bonded like only eighteen year old girls with similar lonely pasts would. The sun hung high in the sky. It was already deep into the afternoon, and despite it being spring, Yuriko was using her own hand to fan herself. Strangely enough, even such an uncouth action was made elegant by Yuriko, her geisha training, no doubt, thought Shiyuri. When she had arrived at the shop almost a week ago, her mental and physical state needed recuperation, and Yuriko-san's little shop was supposedly the best place she could have been in, according to Saitou-san. After her week's stay, Shiyuri thought so too. The only staff at the busy quaint little shop was Yuriko, who did most of the cooking and the management, and her sworn sister, a woman called Kiri, whom Shiyuri did not see very often during her stay, for it was mostly the geisha tending to her injuries. According to the geisha, Kiri was her sworn sister, and it did look like the two were extremely close to each other.
Kiri was a ninja. So was Yuriko. Though her mannerisms were elegant, and everyone referred to her as the geisha of Kagetai, her real skill, it seems, was no doubt in combat. But due to her geisha training, she was also one of the best spies in Kagetai. Perhaps that was what Saitou-san had meant, that being a spy and being a fighter could overlap at times. Remembering what Hikaru had said earlier on, Shiyuri started to wonder at the geisha's reasons for joining the Kagetai.
"So, what are the instructions of Saitou-san?" Yuriko asked, letting the two girls into the staff quarters.
"Well... let's just say there will be something else besides oil on my tessen fans tonight..." Hikaru grinned, her green eyes gleaming at the thought of killing. They sat around the same dining table used in the morning, whilst Kiri came along and set down four sets of lunch for them, sitting down herself. Shiyuri took the opportunity to take a good look at this other girl.
"Is that so? Tonight? So fast?" Yuriko didn't sound surprised.
"They're having some kind of meeting tonight, so it'll be easy as cake to get rid of all of them." Hikaru looked at the food gleefully, and quickly muttered an "Itadakimasu!" before she started to eating.
"Itadakimasu." Kiri said too, and then turned to Hikaru. "How is Shinobu-san?"
Hikaru shrugged. "We didn't get to see her, only that Saitou-san had gotten her notices some time before."
"Shiyuri-san, do eat, you must be quite hungry." Yuriko smiled kindly at the girl, who seemed flushed from her journey outside of the shop. She herself picked up her chopsticks and started to dig in after the customary "Itadakimasu."
"Itadakimasu." Shiyuri picked up her chopsticks, and started to eat her food quietly as Hikaru started to elaborate more on the plan.
"Saitou-san wants you to help, Yuriko-chan, though he knows very well I can do the job on my own..."
"Nee-san?" Kiri looked up, slightly concerned.
"It's okay, Kiri. He probably thinks I'll be able to identify them, that's all. I'll go in, make sure they are all accounted for, then you can come in and finish up." Yuriko smiled. She disliked those nobles, and wasn't very sad to see them killed. She did not like hypocrites, and people who lived off the emperor should not turn on him, at least, not in her opinion.
"Heh heh, so I'll do all the killing, yes?"
"Hai."
Shiyuri was strangely silent during all this, picking at her food and chewing quietly, looking down at her bowl and the table instead of facing the rest of the people. A few strands of her hair have escaped her braid, and now hung like a curtain in front of her small face, the black strands sweeping the table as she ate. Hikaru, noticing this, correctly assumed the reason behind her friend's sudden reticence.
"Ne, Shi-chan... don't be so sad. I'm sure Saitou-san would send for you to go on some other mission. Besides, this is only a small job, ten slow and fat nobles hardly require two skilled Kages..."
"Mm... Daijoubu." Shiyuri shook her head, the bangs still sweeping the table. Her rice was only half-finished, but she quietly excused herself and went to her room.
The stairs up to the second floor seemed like a long dark passage. Her room was now bright, with both the shoji screens for the windows wide opened, and the afternoon sun shining strongly into the room, illuminating the well-cared for tatami mats. Her futon was where she left it, folded neatly and in the corner. She stood at the door, and slowly closed the shoji behind her. At that, she slumped down, her back against the fragile shoji screen, her knees drawn up close to her chest. Shiyuri bent her heavy head onto her knees, her arms tightly wrapped around herself. After a while, she lifted her head, and peered at the windows, numbly gazing at the blue sky, with the lithe shapes of birds passing through it occasionally. The street downstairs seemed so normal, with men shouting out their wares, and the comfortable sound of hooves against the dirt road when a carriage went by now and then. Everything seemed so peaceful. Everything was so peaceful, but for the turmoil in her heart.
Unwrapping her arms from around her knees, she crept to a corner of the room, where her belongings were. Next to a small bundle of clothes were a handful of long strong arrows, and her graceful long bow. She touched the bow reverently, reminded of her foster father as she did, for the bow was his gift to her, just a year ago. What pride she felt when she took the bow from him. What amazement she felt when she looked at the bow, which was aged with many fights, and worn at areas. Now, when she looked at the bow, she started to remember that last fight. Turning to her pile of clothes, she picked up the uppermost pieces. Her white hakama and gi. Made especially for her by her foster father. She wore it for many years of her teenage life, and it carried a lot of memories for her. She fondled the parts where Yuriko had carefully mended, and touched the parts where Yuriko had scrubbed so hard to get the bloodstains off.
There was a knock at the shoji screen. Shiyuri looked up as the shoji screen slid smoothly to one side. Yuriko stepped in, her face full of worry. Behind her was Hikaru, also very worried. They slid the shoji screen shut behind them, and both advanced towards Shiyuri, who had now put down the pieces of clothing and rotated herself to face them.
"Shi-chan? Dai...daijoubu desu ka?"
"Hai. I'm sorry I troubled you, Hikaru-chan." Her voice was softer than usual.
Yuriko looked worried. "I understand that Saitou-san is keeping you out of this mission, is that why you are so upset?"
"In...a way, I suppose."
"But there will be other missions, my dear."
"I don't believe that Saitou-san intends to use me for other missions. He wants me to be a spy. He doesn't want me to fight."
"Saitou-san is cleverer than he looks. He will not let such talent go by unused."
"He says, I'm in no mental shape to fight. He thinks I am still affected by my father's death. He thinks I'm still affected by my students' deaths. So he thinks it's best for me to not fight at all." Her voice had risen a little, and had started to tremble from emotion.
"Perhaps, that's for the best, Shiyuri-san." Yuriko was gentle, choosing her words carefully. Hikaru stayed silent, knowing that she had better not speak at all.
"Doesn't he understand that fighting is the only thing I can do now? Before I go mad with grief?" The girl had lost control over her already taunt emotions, and tears filled her eyes as her voice rose, the last sentence almost a scream, her purple eyes filled with more than tears. She was desperate, Yuriko realised. "Doesn't...he...understand..." The emotion slowly flowed out of her. The girl was spent, and now grief took over. Her head hung down and the loose strands clung to her face as she shook, her tears dripping onto her kimono and onto the tatami mats. She put her hands to her eyes, trying to stem the tears but they kept on flowing, and soon she was howling feverishly, her frustration that was pent up during the one week of waiting finally released. Hikaru had wrapped her arms around the girl, silently, allowing the girl to cry freely, giving some form of solace. Her own face was filled with grief, as if she had remembered her own painful past.
Yuriko silently stood up, and moved to the back of Shiyuri, pushing aside the bundles of clothes and stepping over the bow and arrows carefully. She kneeled down, and carefully undid the braid that was affixed onto Shiyuri's head, loosening the long black hair, and started to comb it with a comb she took out of her obi. The long black hair had been neat in the morning when the braid was tied, but was now slightly tangled, and Yuriko smoothed out the tangles without a word, her comb sliding in and out of the black river of hair whilst the girl cried. Soon, the soothing movements of the comb calmed even the almost hysterical Shiyuri, and she quietened down, using her kimono sleeves to wipe the tears. Yuriko swiftly started to put the hair up in a traditional updo that wasn't very complicated, adding a few plain pins that were in her obi. Hikaru released her hug, and kneeled in front of Shiyuri seriously, her green eyes searching for any danger signs.
There were none. Shiyuri was spent. Her cheeks grew red as she realised what a nuisance she had been. Flustered, she put her hand up to her hair, touching this and that, realising that Yuriko had done her hair up for her. As Yuriko silently moved to the shoji screen, Shiyuri hurriedly bowed. "Thank you so much, Yuriko-san."
The geisha stopped in front of the shoji, her hand in mid-motion of reaching out to the screen. There was a moment of silence, before Yuriko spoke, her head turned away from Shiyuri. "Don't thank me, that's part of your disguise for tonight. Don't mess it up, and wear one of your kasuri kimonos, one of the plainer ones." She turned her head towards Shiyuri, who was now as surprised as Hikaru. On her face there was a secret smile. "You're going to be my attendant tonight, so don't forget your manners."
"Eeh?" Hikaru was the one with the first exclamation. Yuriko continued to smile, and turned to open the shoji screen. "Matte! What did you mean, Yuriko-san? Saitou-san specifically said that she was not to be involved in this mission!"
"Ara?" The geisha stepped outside of the room, and turned around, her face an expression of feigned surprise. "What mission? I just remembered what Saitou-san said, that I was to find work for her." With an obvious twinkle in her eye, she continued on with a feigned pout. "Now, if Saitou-san wishes for me to take part in this little party of his, I'm going to need an attendant. Now, if you don't mind, I have to prepare for tonight's little engagement." And she walked off, the smile hanging around her face, almost Cheshire-cat like.
Hikaru turned back to Shiyuri, whose face was now aglow. Her own face was now a little bit worried, but she forced a smile on her face, and the light-hearted tone in her voice came naturally. "Oh well, I guess if you're just an attendant, Saitou-san wouldn't mind."
"Hai. Hikaru-chan, please... please thank Yuriko-san for me..." The girl was flushed with excitement, her eyes straying to the bow beside her.
"That I will, soon enough, but before that..." Hikaru stopped Shiyuri's hand from picking up the bow. "Saitou-san has given specific instructions that you do not take part in the mission. That you're only helping Yuriko-chan, and that Yuriko-chan has agreed not to fight implies that you would not be fighting too. And I must tell you, if Saitou-san finds out you were fighting, he would kill me first, before he kills you." Shiyuri's head turned to Hikaru, her expression concerned. Soon the concern was mixed with disappointment, and her hand withdrew from the bow.
"Hai. Wakarimasu."
"Demo..." Hikaru sighed, and gave a smile to Shiyuri, her hand withdrawing a small custom-made dagger from her obi and handing it to Shiyuri. "It won't be anyone's fault if you fought in self-defence..." Shiyuri's eyes lit up, and she grasped the dagger, her gratitude towards Hikaru apparent. Hikaru indicated the long bow. "Your bow is far too big to be carried around unobtrusively, so I'm lending you one of my poisoned daggers. It will be small enough to fit in your obi, but dangerous enough to be used in combat." Hikaru smiled, and stood up, looking at the girl who was now busy examining the dagger, apparently quite impressed. She walked over to the shoji, and opened the screen, her voice holding just the least amount of feigned admonishment when she quipped, "Of course, by combat I meant only in self-defence... but I'm sure you know that already..." And then Hikaru closed the shoji, unable to keep the mischievous grin from her face. The green tint in her eyes grew ever so more obvious.
The walk from Yuriko's little shop to the designated location was not long, and three figures walked unhurriedly the narrow road, their elegant shapes silhouetted by the lit lamps that hung near the shop houses. The night was now deep, and the sound of crickets filled the air. The three figures were silent as they proceeded, and passers-by would stop for a while to take a good look at them before moving on with whatever they were doing, for two geishas in their most formal wear was a rare sight even for a place like Kyoto. The older geisha was more settled in her pace, her small feet slightly pigeon-toed as she led the way. Her susohiki trailed gracefully on the paved floor, the white nape of her neck exposed in a way that made the peasants gulp and take a second look. The younger geisha was more classy, her kimono and susohiki matched in colours that were the latest fashion, her face more intense than her counterpart, who had a calming effect on anyone who saw her. Even their young attendant was a beauty, and her youthful charm was set off by the lack of powder on her face and the simple colours she wore, which contrasted deeply with the dolled-up formality of the geishas. This was a party that nobody ignored.
The teahouse was dark on the first level, but the second level rooms were lit, and shapes of men could be seen from the shadows. The guards at the entrance took one look at them, and let them pass. The three silently made their way up to the lit room, and kneeled down in front of the shoji, the attendant nearest to the shoji, the two geisha directly behind. She slid open the shoji, and the noise stilled in the room. Her bow was low.
"Shitsurei shimasu." The two geishas bowed behind her.
"Geisha desu ka? From who?" There was a cautious voice from inside the room, and a slight murmur started amongst the other occupants.
"Geisha de gozaimasu. From Lord Matsudaira." The attendant's voice was soft, and her tone polite. She belied no danger, it seemed.
There was a short moment of silence, before rowdier voices overpowered the cautious one and started calling for the geisha to come in. Lord Matsudaira was an important and well-known man in the palace, and it wasn't uncommon for him to commission a few geishas for the nobles once in a while to appease them. For the meeting had already ended in the room, the details had been settled, and some of the party had started to treat the whole affair like a night out for entertainment.
"What are your names? Come, come sit here with me."
The geisha had already placed themselves strategically amongst the ten nobles, and the attendant sat at the corner of the room, waiting for instructions. It was soon clear to Shiyuri's sharp eyes as she silently and unobtrusively observed the room from where she sat that there were more than ten slow and fat nobles, to quote Hikaru. Of the ten nobles, only around two were really inebriated, and thus rendered slow, and the rest were still alert, not to mention a little nervous and jumpy. For each noble, there were at least two bodyguards. The man with the cautious voice sat at the place of honour in the room, and had five armed men behind him, all very jumpy, their swords within their reach. He seemed to be the most important noble, and Shiyuri assumed correctly that he was the mastermind of the operation. That made ten nobles, twenty-five bodyguards, and a handful of guards hanging around the location. Lots of people for Hikaru to kill, Shiyuri wondered in ironic amusement, when suddenly her roving eyes met with the steely grey eyes of the man with the cautious voice. He had caught her looking around.
"Tsuta, get us some more sake." Yuriko's voice was lilting and in her pleasant Kyoto accent.
"Hai, Kiku-san." Shiyuri hurriedly moved out of the room. From inside, she could hear both "Kiku-san" and "Sumire-san" entertaining the nobles, who had warmed up to the two beautiful and articulate geisha. She gave her best smile at the guards at the door, sending away an order for more sake. Mentally, she counted. Five guards in total. They were all rather sleepy by that late hour, but they were jumpy too, knowing very well their lives were on the line here. She stood at the entrance for a while, staying very silent as she waited for the sake to be delivered. Her smile was getting strained, her senses taut and high-strung from the pressure of keeping up her appearance. Shiyuri realised very well that it was a very dangerous situation she was in. One false move, and she could cost the lives of both her companions as well as hers. If they decide not to torture them, of course.
The sake came, still warm from the nearest shop, and Shiyuri gratefully took the bottles from the deliverer. It was already late into the night by then, and the night air was crisp and biting, though spring was already ending. From outside the room, the loud voices of the nobles and the smooth conversation of the geisha could be heard. Shiyuri put the sake tray down next to her as she kneeled down in front of the shoji, and opened the screen with one hand, the other replacing the first to push the screen all the way to the side. She picked up the tray, stood up, and went into the room, before kneeling down again facing the shoji screen to close it the same way. The cultured ways of a teahouse attendant were not foreign to her, she was well-trained in her younger years, and had worked as an attendant for many years before her subsequent escape from the teahouse. It felt almost ironic that years later, she would be playing the same role, and using the same skills.
The moon hung high in the dark starless sky by the time the three left the teahouse. The guards gave them only a cursory glance as they walked past them and walked down the street, not noticing when they quickly turned into a narrow alley. Once into the alley, Hikaru gave a silent but apparent sigh of relief, as she quickly and skilfully extricated her disguise. The susohiki and kimono and obi and wig were packed tightly into a ball-like shape and wrapped with a piece of cloth, and this was handed to Shiyuri, who was also helping Yuriko remove the more elaborate parts of her costume.
"Take good care of those, Shi-chan, I like that kimono a lot."
"Hai, I will. Good luck, Hikaru-chan."
"Kurohane, I'm coming along with you." Yuriko whispered quickly to Hikaru, who liked to be called as so when she was on a mission. The Kurohane of Kagetai was in the form most well-known to her targets, her attire dark in colour, her brown hair put up with poisoned hairpins, and most importantly, a pair of steel blade tessen fans in her hands, her green eyes gleaming at the thought of the hunt.
"Iie, Yuriko-san. There is no need for you to do so." The Kurohane looked at the teahouse from where she stood, her manner business-like. "There is not much activity from the second-floor, there will be little resistance." She had seen the other woman covertly dropped some powder in the sake bottles, and had not drunk any sake herself, knowing the potency of Kiri's poison. By the time they left the room, a majority of the occupants were either genuinely drunk, or affected by the sleeping poison.
"But even so..." Yuriko's brows furrowed as she herself glanced at the teahouse, now almost completely dark except for the dim lights on the second floor. Her kimono sleeves had been tied up to aid her movements, and she started to make sure that her weapons were in place. "Even so, there's something about one of the nobles that unsettles me. Plus, I need to make sure all ten of them are killed."
The Kurohane tilted her head in thought at that, and then, after some consideration, gave a silent nod to the geisha. Shiyuri stood silently in the alley as she watched the two of them walk out, their motions urgent. From her vantage point, she saw the guards take notice, and then she closed her eyes as the Kurohane swiftly and silently swung her tessen fans and cut both their throats. They didn't even had a chance to warn their counterparts. When Shiyuri opened her eyes, the guards lay dead at the entrance and the walls of the teahouse were splattered with deep red blood. Her two companions were nowhere in sight.
"Four... five!" Yuriko counted softly to herself, as the last guard fell with a dull thud onto the second-storey floor, the large gash in his neck gushing blood onto the wall. She flicked her ninjatou free of blood with practised ease, and turned to see the Kurohane give her a sharp nod, indicating the pair of shoji screens in front of them, and the now dim room. There was silence in the room, even though there were still a few candles lit. The Kurohane's face was obscured by the locks of hair that had come loose, but the glowing green orbs of her eyes were apparent, and her stance was strong, her tessen fans balanced and unerring. Yuriko could hear the blood dripping from the steel blades of the other girl's fans. They had been fast and silent in eliminating the guards, their cuts were clean and deadly, making sure the guards would not sound the alarm. Now that they were facing off their real targets, Yuriko knew that the Kurohane would not be so merciful, and she mentally prepared herself for the carnage there was to follow. This was not the first time she had fought back to back with the Kurohane, but she could never get over the glee that seemed to emanate from the younger girl, nor be able to suppress her shudders when she sees the Kurohane in action. Yuriko took pride in her skills too, but there was something disturbing about someone so young yet so murderous.
The silence grew so thick that the two could hear their own muffled breathing. The Kurohane's hand still stayed in its position, telling Yuriko to wait, as she listened quietly to what was happening in the other room. Yuriko stayed focused, her own senses pricked, her eyes kept flickering to the other girl, to her hand, to the shoji screen in front of her. Her hand grasped her ninjatou tighter, and her other hand slowly crept into her obi to finger the small throwing daggers inside. The Kurohane's face was tense, and full of concentration. Sweat beads started to form on Yuriko's brow.
Beside her, another drop of blood rolled down the spine of the tessen fan, and dripped onto the puddle below.
"Now."
The hushed whisper was the only warning the nobles had. The shoji screens were slashed open in a flash, and the ones who were mildly awake in the room immediately jumped up from where they were, their numb fingers searching frantically for their blades. The two flew into action, fanning out as their movements systematically cleared the room from one side to the other. The Kurohane slashed the nearest person in the stomach, and then twisted so that her next swing would cut off his hand, the blade dropping onto the tatami mats sheathed with a dull thud. The blood spray only sought to intensify her concentration, as she focused on the next person, her left fan immediately parrying the blade that came swooping down, and her right fan swirling upwards to slice the throat and the neck bones with a satisfying crack. Her movements were practised, and she moved like she was dancing, the glowing green colour of her eyes and the sudden glare of the metal fans the only thing that gave away her next move, her slashes unexpected to the untrained in tessen fighting.
On the other side of the room was Yuriko, who, as she fought, kept a lookout for all the ten nobles. The ninjatou was used to parry a blade, as her feet tripped the person holding the blade and she used her left hand to stab the noble unerringly in the heart. She turned abruptly to her right, and the hand which was used to stab sent three shuriken under her right arm, towards the throats of two bodyguards. It took out one of them, who slumped down almost immediately, crushing a sleeping noble, the blood from the gash in his throat spilling onto his head. Yuriko dodged the first attack by the second bodyguard, and then gracefully slashed the man under his arm across his torso. She raised her foot to kick the body towards three other man who were charging her way, and ran towards the wall, vaulting over the three man and landing behind them. Her ninjatou slashed easily through the first two's exposed necks, and she stepped backwards to avoid the third man's turning slash.
The blades of her right tessen fan trapped the katana blade in between them, and the Kurohane twisted her hand effortlessly, twisting the katana out of the man's hand, as her left tessen went in for the kill. It was barely five minutes since they started fighting, and the Kurohane was having fun. The bodyguards were obviously not very well-skilled, and most of the nobles were drunk or sleepy, so they were just good enough to stand up to be slashed, and occasionally a parry was required. The locks that hung in front of her face started to drip with blood, as the tessen fans tend to cause spraying wounds. Around her, the sound of bone breaking, skin slashing and blade clinking filled the air. But she was untouched, her movements quick like a person of her age should be, her face stoic, showing no emotions whatsoever, as her hands twisted and swung, the minor flicks of her wrists enough to disembody a person nearby.
From outside, Shiyuri stood glued to the view of the second-story room, the movements of the two assassins gracefully reflected upon the shoji windows, illuminated by the flickering light of the candles. The night air was crisp, and it bit against her exposed skin, as she stood almost onto the main road, unknowingly stepping towards the carnage. The wind suddenly picked up, and loose strands of her hairdo flapped across her unblinking eyes, as she saw a figure who was most likely Hikaru step near to the window and slash the man standing in front of it, the blood spraying onto the screen, the deep red colour of the liquid apparent through the thin washi paper, and Shiyuri felt a strange engrossing dread as she watched the blood drip downwards.
She had seen that deep red colour before, on the other side of a shoji screen... on that day of the incident...
Shiyuri stepped back in alarm, her hands dropping the bundle of clothes as they went up to clutch her head, and she squeezed her eyes tight as her hands pressed against her head, trying to stem the images that had been triggered. She backed into the wall, and started to sink onto her knees, her head down, her teeth biting her lips. The bundle of clothes rolled onto the main road, and it looked set to roll into a puddle, before it hit a pair of feet and stopped.
"Kurohane! There's one noble missing!" Yuriko flicked her left hand, and three throwing daggers embedded themselves onto a man's arm, a man's throat, and the wall respectively. Her eyes continued to search the dim room even as she started to slash another person with her ninjatou.
"Missing? What do you mean, missing?" The Kurohane's voice was still calm, as she blocked another blade, and her left hand twisted to her back to slash a bodyguard who was running towards her. "Did he escape?"
"No, I don't think so. He must have left before we started!" Yuriko's brows furrowed, as she quickly confirmed which noble it was. "It's the one sitting over there just now. Kurohane! The leader! He's not here!" A blade came to her right, and slashed through her kimono sleeve before she blocked it. The small gash on her right arm started to bleed. She winced at the wound, and doubled her efforts, her ninjatou slashing deep into the man, and her left hand grabbing more shuriken from the folds of her obi as she turned towards the Kurohane and sent the weapons towards the two men who were attacking the other girl. Yuriko was more worried than she sounded. That particular noble was the most dangerous, he had been the one she was bothered about...
The man looked at the bundle at his feet with some irritance, before recognising the beautiful kimono that was inside. His eyes filled with understanding as he bent down and picked up the bundle, his two bodyguards whispering at his side asking him to press on. He motioned for them to hush, and followed the trail of the bundle until his eyes led him to notice the young girl in the dark alley, who was now silently crouching down against the wall. His mouth suddenly curved up slightly to form a menacing smile, as he walked purposefully towards the alley, indicating to his bodyguards to grab the girl.
"Shiyuri! She's still outside, maybe she would have seen the last noble." The geisha said, picking up whatever of her weapons she could find in the mess. The blood had started to seep into the tatami mats, and her zori sunk and squeaked as they pushed against the blood-soaked mats. The Kurohane went around checking that everyone of the nobles were dead, occasionally flicking her fan to silence a moan or stop someone's last attempt to grab his katana. All the people had been accounted for, except two bodyguards and the last noble, the most important one. Yuriko frowned, hoping that they would still be able to catch him.
"Who sent you? The emperor? The Shogun? Who?" The noble's steely grey eyes glinted, his mouth set in a hard unbending line. One of the bodyguards had hauled Shiyuri off her feet, and had her in an armlock, as she struggled to get away.
The Ishin Shishi sneered at her, and dropped one of her students, letting her see the arrow sticking out of his chest. On his face a pained expression, and his mouth could barely move. "Sen...sei..." The Ishin stepped onto her student's face, crushing the mouth. She looked up, enraged, and her hand went automatically to the bow she carried on her back, when suddenly she felt herself lifted and armlocked by a man behind her. It was another Ishin, and the one in front of her laughed mockingly...
"Sensei ka? You? No wonder your students all suck!" The other Ishin laughed loudly at this joke. She could smell the alcohol on her attacker's breath as he drew nearer, his blade next to her neck as he leaned nearer and sneered at her. Her expressionless manner only goaded him on, and he called for his companion to bring one of her students here.
"What is with that look? You do not show our lord respect?" The other bodyguard remarked loudly and rudely, his katana blade glinting in the moonlight as he put it next to her face, which wore no expression, her whole body limp, her gaze glassy. "Maybe if you felt a little pain..." The blade sliced cleanly a thin line of red across her chest, and the kimono neck fell open, revealing the blood that started to seep through the thin cut.
She felt a pain at her chest, and saw that another Ishin had dragged an arrow across her upper torso, cutting her white gi. He looked back at her, and turned purposefully towards the young man who was now being dragged towards her by another Ishin. Her student was forced to kneel, and his gaze kept going towards her face, his mouth muttering "Sensei... tasukete... Sensei..." even as the Ishin took the bow off her back, and fitted the arrow to it...
"Forget it, she's not going to talk at this rate." The noble turned away, his face disappointed. His plans would have to wait for another day, now that the nine other men were undoubtedly assassinated. What was more important was who started the attack. He needed to know who was his enemy, and how he got his information... There was a spy in the palace, no doubt that. Turning to the girl, who was now in a heap on the floor, her body limp, her face still dazed and emotionless, he thought for a while, before instructing one of his bodyguards. "Bring the girl back, she might be of some use to us."
She flinched as the arrow went unerringly into the chest of her student, and he fell onto his back, dead. The Ishin looked at her and grinned, twirling her bow and then flinging it into the corner. "Not bad, eh?" He looked at her face, still emotionless, and his expression soured. "Let her down, and bring her there." The armlock on her was released, and she fell into a heap on the floor, before she was yanked by her long braid to another side of the room...
"Look, Yuriko-san, isn't that the two bodyguards and the noble at the alley?"
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The bodyguards were caught off-guard as the girl suddenly leaped to her feet and thrust towards them a slim dagger. The man nearest to her had the dagger stabbed into his heart, and he clawed at the wall as the blood flowed out, even as Shiyuri started hacking at the other bodyguard with the first one's sword. He parried the first blow, but her actions were faster and wilder than he had expected, and she managed to hack his shoulder-blade and his right arm before he could parry again. He attempted to slash her abdomen, whilst shouting for his lord to leave, but she dodged the move at lightning speed, with movements that he recognised were those of a ninja, and before he knew it, she had hacked at his neck, and he slumped against the wall too.
Her first move was against the man who had grabbed her hair: the small dagger she carried around went into his throat, and she didn't even blink when the blood spurted at her face. She picked up his katana, and parried the Ishin who had sneered at her, screaming as she hacked off his sword arm, her strength multiplied by adrenaline and anger. Her right arm ached with the unfamiliar weight of the sword, and she hacked too hard, her whole body carried forward by the momentum as another Ishin took the opportunity to slash wildly, wounding her side. Dropping the sword, she ran away from them, to the corner where he had flung her bow. Then she picked up the nearest arrows she could find, and turned around, fully in her element...
The noble looked at the girl, who was now wild and screaming at the top of her lungs, running towards him at top speed whilst roughly waving the katana around. An amateur, he scoffed, his own blade already in his hand, ready to attack. The girl was no match for him, he, unlike his bodyguards, would not be caught unawares. He would disarm her, and then take her back for questioning. His eyes narrowed and his mouth hardened as he drew himself into his fighting stance and swung his blade towards the girl's blade.
"Neh neh... you ran away..." It was a different girl who stood in front of him, and he looked surprised, his arm unable to move. His katana blade was caught in between two blades of a steel fan, which the girl wielded easily, her smile unkind, and her green eyes hard. Her mouth slid open to reveal sparkling white teeth. "It's not like a gentleman to run away from a challenge, especially not one from a lady, would it?" The tessen fan in her left hand swooped up and easily decapitated the noble, the shocked expression still on his face as the body collapsed, spurting blood.
"Neh, Shiyuri-san... neh?" Yuriko shook the limp girl worriedly. Her expression had not changed, though her body had gone totally numb. The Kurohane walked over, the blood still dripping from her fans when she set them down next to her, and looked at Shiyuri worriedly.
"What happened to her, Yuriko-san? Why is she like that? Like she's in some kind of trance..."
"I think... I think she's in shock or something... she lost control just now, did you see?"
"In shock?" Hikaru looked at Shiyuri's dazed expression, and she bit her lip. "Anyway, I think we better get her back to your place now." She stood up, and the wind blew the loose strands of brown hair against her sweat and blood soaked brow. "We're done here tonight."
***
The sound of the morning bustle awoke her from her sleep, as it streamed in through the closed shoji screen windows. She rustled underneath her covers, and laid flat on her back, her eyes gazing upon the bare ceiling above her, her long black hair a mess beneath her. Her sleeping kimono was tangled, and it opened slightly in front, revealing her bandaged chest. She sighed. It was another morning.
The shoji screen slid open. "Shiyuri-san? Are you awake?"
She sat up on her futon, and kneeled respectfully. "Hai, Yuriko-san. Ohayou gozaimasu."
"Ohayou gozaimasu, Shiyuri-san." The geisha leaned against the shoji, a smile lingering at her lips. "There's a messenger for you."
"From Saitou-san?" There was something in Shiyuri's eyes.
"I believe so..." Yuriko turned around, and started to close the shoji. "It's Hikaru-chan."
The girl sitting at the table was not any different from the girl who sat at the table almost a week ago. Hikaru shuffled impatiently, and she looked up expectantly when she heard footsteps. "Oh, it's you, Yuriko-chan." She turned back to the table, as the geisha walked over and sat beside her. "How... how is she?" Hikaru was hesitant.
"She's fine, physically. But mentally..."
"Mentally?"
Yuriko smiled a sad smile. "You can pretty much guess by now, Shiyuri-san is someone who has gone through something very painful in her life, very recently. Mentally, she is not prepared to fight, not now, not a week before, probably not for the next few months. Her mind just can't take it." Yuriko looked up, her sharp ears catching the sound of soft footsteps coming down.
Shiyuri came down the stairs, her hair in a long braid that trailed downwards to her waist, properly attired in one of her simple kimonos. She gave a shy smile, tinged with sadness, when she saw Hikaru. It had been almost a week since Shiyuri's seen her, after the fateful mission Hikaru was kept busy by Saitou-san so much so that Shiyuri only got to see Yuriko's and Kiri's kind faces. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Hikaru-chan."
"Ohayou, Shi-chan." The girl was as sprightly as ever. "Genki ka?"
Shiyuri sat herself down at the table. "I'm alright. Maybe not genki as yet, but relatively fine. How have you been, Hikaru-chan?"
"Mou... maa maa ne..." She made a face. "Saitou-san has been working me to the bone! Geez... you would think after that successful mission he would..." Hikaru looked at Shiyuri's face, realising her lack of tact. "Ahh... gomen, Shi-chan... I didn't mean to bring it up..."
"Iie..." The girl shook her head softly, and stray strands of hair wisped past her pale forehead. "What happened then was not your fault, nor Yuriko-san's. I should have listened to Saitou-san. I should have stayed far far away from blood and fights. It was my own stubbornness that made me insist on coming, it was my own weakness that made me succumb to my erratic emotions." She looked up, and smiled her soft smile. "All you two did were to try and help me in any way you could think off. It wasn't your fault."
She sighed a sigh that was beyond her years, and looked down at her hands, which were wringing each other, crumpling the kimono cloth on her lap. Hikaru opened her mouth, wanting so much to ask a question, but Yuriko put up her hand, and shook her head slowly. She knew that Shiyuri would speak when she wanted to.
"I... I didn't have a very good childhood, I wasn't surrounded by family, or friends, or people who cared. But all that changed when I met Sensei." A smile lingered around Shiyuri, waiting to come out. "Sensei took good care of me, he taught me so many things. He cared for me. For the first time, somebody cared for me. The day he adopted me as his daughter was the happiest day of my life. I was given a surname, a name, a home, and a family. I took care of him, even as I watched him fade away, and turn slowly into a frail old man, someone I couldn't even recognise. He had given me his dojo and his students, and when I was feeling down about Sensei's health, my students would cheer me up. That's how I spent the next two years of my life, trapped between sadness and anger at my Sensei's situation, and joy and cheer from the students he gave me." Shiyuri stopped altogether, her hands clutching her kimono tightly into clumps as she tried to stop her tears. "And then, Sensei passed away. He didn't even recognise me at the last minute, the only thing he was doing was moaning from the pain. Moaning, like an animal, something my Sensei would never ever do. So when I left our house in the forest, to seek solace in my students, I arrived to see them mostly dead in my dojo."
"Dead?"
"The Ishin were drunk when they came in to challenge the dojo. My students were not good enough for them, and I, as their sensei, was not around, so the Ishin decided to turn them into moving targets. They captured me, and forced me to watch as they shot one of my students from an armlength's distance away. I suppose they were going to kill me too." Her voice was getting softer, almost inaudible. "So I killed them. I slaughtered them the same way they had slaughtered the only other thing I had worth living for. But strangely enough..." her tears had started to drip onto the floor, "I didn't feel happy killing them. I didn't feel anything. I just numbly shot arrow after arrow..."
Yuriko put her arms around Shiyuri, who was silently crying, the tears streaming down her face, her mouth open, but no sound came from it. Her fists were clenched, pressed against her thighs, as she tried to stop crying. "I... I don't want to cry anymore... not about this... I've cried too long, too many nights, too many mornings, too many days... I'm tired... tired of crying, tired of living... I don't have anything left to live for but revenge, but I've taken it and I don't feel any better. I can't do anything but fight, but now I can't even do that. I don't have anyone but myself now, but even I can't accept myself..."
"It's okay... to cry... Shi-chan." Hikaru placed her cool palms over the red fists. "You have Kagetai now..." Her right hand went up to soothe Shiyuri's bangs away from her damp face. "We may not be much... but we're bound by the same sad pasts, and the same skeletons in our closets..." Hikaru patted the other girl's head, and pulled her towards herself into a soft hug. "We're the same, so we understand. We understand your pain, and because we understand, we can tell you for sure, the pain will pass... not now maybe, not in a few months, but after a while, it will pass." Hikaru pulled away from the girl, who was now sniffing more than crying. She patted Shiyuri's shoulder. "And when it does pass... maybe... maybe we'll go on another mission, together. Neh?"
"Ha...Hai..." It took a while before Shiyuri could speak without trembling, and another few minutes before she could muster a small smile.
"It'll be my pleasure."
Outside, the wind blew again. Spring was turning into summer, and Tsuihana Shiyuri had become a Kagetai.
Glossary . shoji --- japanese sliding screens made from thin paper and a wooden grid . tatami --- firm rush mats used for flooring and for sleeping . futon --- japanese traditional bedding. geisha --- a female entertainer, often mistaken for a prostitute (but isn't) . hai --- an affirmative answer . Ohayou Gozaimasu --- good morning . Kanamo-san, Yuriko-san, Tsuihana-san, Shiyuri-san --- the suffix -san is used to add formality and to show respect. calling someone by their surname and adding -san behind is more respectful and formal than using their first names and adding -san behind . ara --- an expression to mean surprise . ninja --- a martial artist trained in the arts of spying and assassination . kimono --- a wraparound robe that is the officially recognised national costume of japan . Go-shoukai shimasu --- let me do the introductions . ano --- a sign of hesitation, much like the english "umm" . sou --- an expression which means "i see..." . Shinsengumi --- a policing force in Kyoto during the Tokugawa era, loyal to the Shogun . iie --- a negative answer . Hontou ni doumo arigatou gozaimasu --- a very formal way of saying thank you . dojo --- a training school for martial arts . Hikaru desu --- It's Hikaru. . Shogun --- the military commander of Japan who was the de facto ruler at that time . Mochiron desu --- of course . etto --- same meaning as "ano" . sou desu ne --- an affirming answer . tessen fans --- fans which have pointed spines and are used as weapons . Itadakimasu --- an expression said before partaking of a meal . Nee-san --- older sister . Kages --- an affectionate name for the members of the Kagetai . Daijoubu --- I'm alright . hakama --- wide pleated pants worn by men and female martial arts practitioners . gi --- a wraparound top worn by martial arts practitioners . desu ka? --- a suffix that indicates a question . obi --- wide padded sash worn around the waist with a kimono . kasuri --- a traditional folk-art weave . matte --- wait . wakarimasu --- I understand . demo --- but . susohiki --- a long trailing kimono worn by the geishas . Shitsurei shimasu --- a formal way of saying "please excuse our intrusion" . Geisha de gozaimsu --- a formal way of saying "it is geisha" . sake --- rice wine . ninjatou --- a long dagger used by ninjas . shuriken --- multi-edged flying daggers, often described as darts or stars . katana --- japanese blade . zori --- padded slippers worn with kimono . Ishin Shishi --- a policing force in Kyoto during the Tokugawa era, loyal to the emperor . sensei --- teacher or instructor . tasukete --- help . neh --- an expression that indicates some form of prodding . Genki ka --- are you healthy? (something like "how are you?") . mou...maa maa ne --- well... it's been so-so
chiiyo's comments :
Shiyuri is a character that I really ought to write more about. This is the first piece of writing about her that I feel somewhat satisfied about. Traditionally, I would write Shiyuri stories in parts, because on the Kagetai mailing list this was a culture. But very often if I start writing a story with prior knowledge that it would be in parts, I end up losing interest in writing anything other than the first few parts. In short, I run out of steam. So this time, I decided to try and write the entire plotline into just one story. To be honest, the story started out as a short story, somehow, along the way, in a bid to try and personify Shiyuri more, to inject how she would act and feel, this became the long long story that it is now. I was influenced by a lot of other sources when I was writing this: I was watching Witch Hunter Robin in the period when I was writing the first section, and then switched to listening to L'Arc~en~Ciel songs when I was writing the fight scenes, and then the awful anti-climatic ending was inspired by sappy chinese love songs.. *grin*