The Shadow's Heart
Disclaimer: I do not own SkipBeat or Ashita no Ousama, nor do I own any of the characters from either original story.
Sasaya Yuu was in her element as she sat in her first-class seat and told her story. Her husband, Touya Ichii, had insisted on paying for a first-class ticket so that she would have plenty of elbow room. "I want you to get plenty of rest on the flight. I know you; you'll hit Tokyo on the run and won't slow down until I come home and force you to."
It had been two years since Ichii had asked her to accompany him on his move to England. He also surprised her by asking for her hand in marriage. She would have gone with him regardless, she loved him that much, but it was better this way. After a whirlwind wedding, complete with bewildered parents on both sides, they had boarded a Concord and made an amazingly fast trip to London.
Over the last two years they had seen many places in Europe, Canada, and the United States, travelling with an international theater group. Touya Ichii, an amazingly gifted actor, had won acclaim and new fans wherever he appeared on stage. Sasaya Yuu (she kept her surname for the purposes of advancing her own writing career) not only saw her husband's plays, but every other play she could get a ticket to. When they weren't in theaters, or enjoying each-other's company, Yuu was writing.
Touya Ichii was back in England, finishing out his last two plays. Yuu was flying home two months early. She had an entire arsenal of scripts burning holes in her hands. She couldn't wait any longer… she had to get back to work or she would go crazy.
For this trip, she was on a much slower flight. She didn't mind; she was using the time to review her favorite script. She was so deeply into her reading that she didn't notice the big pair of brown eyes staring at her. "Whatcha reading? Is that a script?"
Yuu looked away from her script and into those big, curious eyes. "Why, hello. What did you ask me?"
"Whatcha reading?" The big, brown eyes belonged to the face of a very cute girl of about twelve who was in the next seat. "Is it a script? Are you an actress?"
"Yes, it is a script. No, I'm not an actress, I'm a play writer and director. I'm going home to turn this story and other stories into plays."
"That's so cool! Can you tell me the story?" The young girl was starry-eyed with excitement until her mother spoke up.
"Minami, please stop annoying Sasaya-san. You know better than to annoy strangers." The young mother looked up and saw the surprised expression on Yuu's face, "Sorry, I recognized you from before. My husband and I went to every performance of The Age-Changing Mountain Pass. Your husband was wonderful, and your plays and television shows were always so interesting. Are you really coming back to Tokyo?"
"Yes, two years of travelling is enough. I want to turn all of the stories that I've collected into plays."
"So… you mean... you're famous?" Minami interrupted, "Oh, please, can I please hear just one of your stories? I love movies and plays."
"Minami!"
"It's alright, Mrs…."
"Okijima Sana. I'm sorry about my daughter…"
"No, that's fine. When I was her age my favorite thing to do was to sit at my grandmother's feet and hear her stories. I don't mind at all." She looked at Minami, "I must caution you, though, the story that I'm about to tell you is a tragic love story. Do you understand about tragedies?"
"You mean like Romeo and Juliet? Yeah, we had to read that story in school last trimester. Is it just like that?"
"Somewhat. It is the story of love, jealousy, and tragic misunderstanding… but there is a twist."
"Oh, tell me, please?"
"Well then, as long as you understand that you'll most certainly cry before the end, I'll tell you the story."
Touya Ichii, Yuu's husband, had told her several times that she couldn't act to save her life. He wasn't being cruel… it was absolutely true. But she had learned storytelling at the feet of an expert. Her voice inflection, dramatic pauses, and tone were hypnotic. Before she had spoken for five minutes every passenger in first-class was captivated by her story.
"Matsuhashi Yutsuko was born into a once wealthy samurai family, and yet her arrival was not considered a blessed occasion. In fact, Yutsuko's father had openly considered the idea of taking the infant out and drowning it. You see, he not only wanted, but he needed a boy child.
"The Matsuhashi family was once prominent and successful, but due to the unexpected death of the shogun, and because of a shift in political power, the family was left without a lord to follow. Had this been a time of war it might have been different. After all, any shogun would gladly have attached a samurai family with such a rich history of warriors. Regrettably, it was a time of peace.
"If a son had been born, then the son could have been trained to become a great warrior who would raise the name of Matsuhashi once again. But the couple was having only daughters. The first three daughters had been plain, and the father had married each of them off at a young age to relatively insignificant families. The fourth daughter, Konami, was an extraordinary beauty, even as a young child. The fifth daughter, Yutsuko was pretty enough, but not nearly as beautiful as Konami, so she was dismissed out-of-hand.
"The Matsuhashi family had a secret tradition. Whereas one son of each generation was trained to be a samurai of superior skill, a younger son was always chosen to undergo an even harsher training: the training of the shadow warrior. That was the secret of the Matsuhashi clan. Behind every great and famous Matsuhashi Samurai Warrior was the shadow warrior. The samurai warrior was expected to fight only with the two swords, as befitted the honor of a samurai. The shadow warrior was trained to make anything into a weapon. The shadow warrior did not have to worry about honor; he existed only to kill anyone who was a danger to the samurai.
"The shadow warrior was never supposed to be seen, or, if seen, was supposed to seem so innocuous that people would disregard him. He would strike from the shadows and disappear. Thus the Matsuhashi Samurais had developed a somewhat false reputation for being unbeatable in combat, and the family name had continued to grow.
"The role of the shadow warrior came at a horrible price. The shadow warrior ceased to exist as soon as he was chosen for training. He would never be acknowledged by the family again. He would leave home at the age of six, and the family would hold a funeral, as if he had passed away. He would be given a new name and begin a training so brutal that some of the chosen candidates were crippled or died. When the training was completed, his sole purpose would be to shadow his samurai. If he should die, the family would leave his body where it fell and begin training the next warrior. He could never fall in love, never marry, and never live a normal life again.
"At the time of my story, the Matsuhashis seemed to have been cursed with nothing but daughters. There was no son born to become a samurai, and no son to train as the shadow warrior. The patriarch of the family, Matsuhashi Nabuto, looked at his beautiful daughter, and he looked at his unimportant youngest daughter, and he made a decision. In order to advance the family prestige again, he would marry Konami to the most prominent family that he could find. And to protect his beautiful daughter from unsuitable men, he would have little Yutsuko trained as the next shadow warrior.
"So, while Konami lived a pampered life in the lap of luxury, Yutsuko spent ten years enduring the most brutal training imaginable. She was taught to go for many days without food. She was taught to endure bitter cold and blazing heat. She was taught to endure terrible pain and endless hours without moving a muscle. She was taught that she must die rather than allow any harm to come to her sister. And she was taught to never show emotion.
"Ten years fashioned Yutsuko's body into tensile steel. Ten years molded her mind into the mind of a merciless warrior. Yet not even ten years could change the longing of a young girl's heart. More than anything else, Yutsuko wanted to love and be loved."
Sasaya Yuu had been concentrating on Minami as she spun her story. Now, as she stopped to take a drink, she saw that she had an audience. The stewardesses, the other first class passengers, and even a few children from coach had drifted forward. Minami put her hands on Yuu's arm, "Please don't stop! I want to hear more!"
Yuu smiled at all of the eager faces, and continued. "Yutsuko returned home at sixteen years old, but it wasn't home to her anymore. Her father and mother no longer acknowledged her as a daughter. She was no longer Yutsuko to her family, she was Yami, or "Shadow," a servant to be ordered around. Her job was to protect her sister's life and virtue at all costs.
"Yutsuko's father had a more ambitious plan. He intended to increase Konami's prospects by increasing her fame. Imagine, he thought to himself, how famous my daughter will become if a multitude of men are willing to die to woo her! News of her fame and beauty will spread far and wide, so that even the great shoguns will want their sons to marry her! Nabuto issued a proclamation: Any man, samurai or above of course, who could defeat the family's champion in a life-or-death match would be allowed to court his beautiful daughter…
"Excuse me, Sasaya-san?" Yuu looked away from Minami and saw one of the stewardesses, "I'm really sorry to interrupt, but we need to start dinner service and…" The pretty lady looked significantly down the aisle. Yuu followed her gaze and saw that the crowd had increased.
"I'm sorry, everyone, but I have to stop telling the story for now. We shouldn't inconvenience the flight crew." There were collective Awwwws and pleas, but Yuu was an experienced stage director, even at her young age. She was polite but firm, and soon everyone had returned to their seats. She stood up to put her scripts in the overhead compartment, not noticing the photograph that fell out.
"Ummm, excuse me," A young male voice said. Yuu turned around to see a young teen holding out a photograph of a beautiful young lady with golden eyes. "You dropped this. Do you know Mogami Kyoko?"
Yuu smiled as she reached out for the photograph, "Not yet, but I hope to meet her soon. I want her to be my shadow warrior. Do you know her?"
"He has a crush on her," Minami teased.
"Shut up, Min!" The teen had a little color in his cheeks, but he still answered Yuu, "I've seen everything she's ever been in. She's like, the best actress in Japan."
"That's not what you said before, Tomo," Minami giggled, "He said that she's smoking hot!"
"Min," Tomoji growled.
Yuu grinned sympathetically, "I think she's wonderful as well. That's why I want her on my stage. Don't you think that she'd make a great shadow warrior?"
Brother, sister, and mother all chimed in, "She would be perfect!"
The meal was served and then the captain turned off the lights so that the passengers could sleep through the rest of the flight. But many of the passengers, mostly children, but also a few adults, wouldn't rest… they wanted to hear the rest of the story. Finally, Yuu had to make a promise: the stewardesses took down the names of those interested and Sasaya Yuu promised that she would have a free ticket available for each person once The Shadow's Heart was ready for the stage.
As she prepared to exit the airplane, Yuu smiled at Tomoji and handed him Mogami Kyoko's official press photo. "You can have this, if you'd like. I'll tell you what: if you're nice to your sister I'll make sure that you have a chance to meet Kyoko, assuming that I can get her to act in my play. Is it a deal?"
Tomoji blushed, but he looked almost reverent as he took the photo, "I'll be the best big brother ever if you can make that happen, Sasaya-san. Thanks!"
"Tomo's got a girlfriend!" Minami mocked, but Yuu stopped her with a hand, "And I'll introduce you to one of the handsomest men in Japan if you're nice to your brother."
Minami's eyes grew wide, "Who?"
"The man who I have chosen for the male lead is Sawamura Fukinosuke."
Minami's mother interrupted, "You know him? Really!"
Yuu grinned at Sana while Minami looked back and forth in confusion, "Who's that?"
Sana nervously adjusted her hair as if the young man in question was right there on the airplane with them. "He's the prince of Kabuki Theater, Min. He's gorgeous!"
"Kabuki!" Minami said with disgust, "That's for old people!"
Yuu shook her head in sympathy with Sana and then looked down at Minami tolerantly, "Trust me, Minami-san, when you meet Fujinosuke-san, you'll fall in love with Kabuki… or at least, with the prince."
Notes: This is the second half of Patience is its Own Reward, a SkipBeat fanfic. It is also my first story for Ashita no Ousama. I hope that this will encourage others to read that manga and to write under that storyline. Please enjoy.
I strongly recommend that you read Patience before reading this, or else you won't understand much of what has already happened in the lives of Ren and Kyoko. This story will feature Ren & Kyoko, Sasaya Yuu & Touya Ichii, and many others who many of you have come to know.
Obviously there isn't much to review here, but I hope that you will read and review anyway.