.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.

By a gust of wind

Autumn's leaves of trees and grass

Are wasted and driven.

So they called this mountain wind

A storm.

- Fun'ya no Yasuhide (22/100百人一首)

.oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo..oOo.


Kaga Province - 10th Month, Keichō Year 10

It was the first time his mother asked him to skip kenjutsu practice since he started a year ago.

This request alone should have made him wary - nothing short of a death in the family, including his own, would have excused him from attending his daily training. Still, the thought of spending the entire afternoon playing kemari was enough to quell any questions in his young mind. Such happiness was short-lived when when he was quickly dressed in his finest clothes and told to mind his manners that same afternoon.

The visitors arrived in a kago bearing a crest which was not familiar to him. He knew quite well that their lord's kamon was a plum blossom with five petals. The one he was looking at did not resemble any of the daimyo's kamon surrounding Kaga either, which could only mean that they were not from any of the nearby territories.

The guests were received at the front door and ushered into the tearoom. He always thought that such exceptional hospitality was reserved only for their lord whenever he paid their family a visit. Relatives, friends, and almost anyone whom his father worked with would have used the middle entrance as befitting their station. The servants would enter by the side door, through the kitchens.

His mother started the introductions, with him bowing at the requisite parts and mouthing the appropriate platitudes. Once finished, he settled near the corner of the room and tried to tune out the women's lively chatter.

A most welcome distraction came in the form of a servant bearing a tray filled with freshly made wagashi - the scent alone was enough to make his mouth water. He hoped that his mother would be too busy entertaining to notice him slipping a few extra sweets inside his kimono sleeves. Besides, women always tend to eat less sweets for fear of getting fat.

The servant first presented the tray to the woman wearing a powder-blue kimono. She accepted the sweets graciously; her hand hovered over the tray for a moment before choosing a namagashi in the shape of a plum blossom. He noticed that, even with her unpainted face, her translucent skin rivaled the whiteness of driven snow. 'A yuki-onna', he thought, just like the one from the stories his late obāsan used to tell him: the female spirit of winter who was as cold as she was beautiful.

Once everyone had been served, his mother deftly lifted the pot from the charcoal burner and poured hot water into the lacquered cups resting on the wooden tray. Next, she measured the kamairicha leaves into the kyusu and used the warming water in the cups to steep the leaves. He managed to finish two kuri kinton before the tea was deemed ready to be served.

"Such an interesting brew," their guest murmured before taking another delicate sip from her cup. "This ryokucha is not bitter at all. The slight roasted aftertaste complements the sweetness of the wagashi."

"I'm glad you like it. I figured the children would appreciate this instead of the usual green tea."

"How very thoughtful of you," he heard her say, but her close-lipped smile did not quite reach her gray eyes. "Wherever did you find such delicious tea?"

"A gift from a visiting cousin hailing from Saga." His mother continued as she began to pour water into the pot to steep the leaves a second time, "Tea makers of Kyushu prepare the tea leaves by frying them in a huge pan - this eliminates the bitterness."

He drank his own tea slowly, as he was taught to do, in order to appreciate the warmth and fragrance, as well as the taste of the tea. Two cups later, he found himself fidgeting as he sat in seiza on the tatami, praying that his legs wouldn't die on him before his mother could give him permission to take his leave - he would just need to hold on until then. Counting the maple leaves painted on the sleeves of the girl's kimono sitting across him seemed like a good distraction until he realized that his mother was trying to tell him something.

"Sumimasen, Haha-ue. Could you say that again, please?"

She sighed. "I said that you should bring Kyoko-hime to the gardens."

"Eh~? Kyoko-hime?" he repeated dumbly, brows knotted in confusion, which caused his mother to narrow her eyes at him in warning. He gathered his wits and quickly shifted his attention to the young girl sitting beside the 'yuki-onna' - the girl herself was caught in the middle of sinking her teeth into a tsubaki mochi.

'This is the girl for whom she had me skip practice?'

The girl reminded him of koyo, with her momiji painted kimono and chrysanthemum embroidered obi tied in a butterfly knot on her back. Her hair was cut short, with bangs forming a straight line over her eyebrows and the edge of her hair ending just below her ears. He thought she looked a lot like one of those dolls that his mother kept on display - precious and fragile; serving little more than a decorative purpose.

But showing hospitality to the girl meant respite from the stifling confines of the tea room. His mind made up, he bowed to each of the women in turn before standing up. Armed with his most genial smile, he held out his hand to the girl sitting before him, "Please allow me to show you around the gardens, Kyoko-hime."

The girl looked at him with the most earnest expression as she placed her warm hand in his. "Arigato, Sho-dono."

The children took their leave, each preoccupied with their own thoughts as they walked out of the house. He could tell that Kyoko was dutifully following him as he led the way to the gardens. Surprisingly, it was the shy girl who finally broke the silence.

"Are you an only child, Sho-dono?" she asked, blushing heavily as her next words came out in a rush, "I-I hope you don't mind me asking."

"As far as I know, I am." he replied and gave her a questioning look, "How about you, Kyoko-hime?"

"I guess it's the same for me as well," she said, fiddling with the tassels on her obijime. "Though I cannot say it with the same certainty."

Her bald statement gave him pause. It was not unheard of after all, a nobleman having a child with another woman outside of wedlock. There were those who could even afford a second wife and a string of concubines. A male child was the preference, and would even sometimes take precedence over the legal female child for need of an heir.

"I'm not familiar with the kamon adorning your kago," he said, steering the conversation to less dangerous topics. "So, I assume that you're not from around here?"

"Haha-ue and I used to live with my ojisan back in Suruga. It's one of the provinces along the Tōkaido. The kago belongs to him, the kamon is the crest of the lord he serves."

"So, what's it called?"

"I heard it's called mitsuba aoi."

"Three leaves... blue," Sho's forehead furrowed in puzzlement, "Eh-? Three blue leaves?"


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Kaga Province - 7th Month, Keichō Year 13

"I don't understand why I still need to learn kyudō," he grouched as he threw down his bow, glaring at his arrows which never managed to hit the black circle in the middle of the mato. "In a real battle, a samurai kyudōka is no match against an ashigaru armed with a teppô! So what's the use?!"

"Calm down, Sho-kun. Besides, that's not entirely true," Kyoko countered mildly as she nocks an arrow and raises the bow above her head as she prepares to draw, "A skilled archer would be able to shoot ten arrows before a single shot could be fired."

Sho fumed as he watched her carefully took aim, pointer finger extended towards the target. She drew the tsuru back until the arrow was slightly below her cheekbone, then let go. The tsuru made a twanging noise as it was released, followed by a dull thud as the arrow found its mark. Her first arrow hits the edge of the black circle. The second arrow landed right in the middle.

He wiped his brow and blew his hair out of his eyes in frustration. Contrary to his initial impression, Kyoko had proven time and again in the past year that she was far from being a fragile useless doll. The things in which she excelled above him were indeed very few, but this was one of those few things that he wanted so badly to do better. Hence, it was hard not to feel resentful and even a bit jealous sometimes.

He caught her heavy sigh and found her frowning at the first arrow that narrowly hit its mark. "I always forget that the haya spins clockwise. Why can't I just use an otoya all the time?" she mused.

"Because that would be cheating, Kyoko-hime."

They both turned towards the gently chiding voice and found their kyudō sensei making his way towards them.

Kyoko bowed in respect before addressing the older man, "If I were to ride into battle with Sho-dono against a platoon of ashigaru armed with teppô, then I think I'm well entitled to that handicap, Fuwa Sensei."

"I earnestly hope that you would never find yourself in such a situation," his father returned her smile even though his tone held some measure of gravity.

"The way of the bow is different from the art of archery," he said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders as he hunched down between them to explain, "I teach kyudō so that both of you would learn self-discipline, not because it is a skill you would need in battle. I've fought too many wars in my lifetime to know that one's strength of will could spell the difference between a narrow victory and a crushing defeat."

He could not honestly say that he fully understood his father's cryptic words, but he nodded anyways. Kyoko, on the other hand, seemed to have certain reservations.

"Sensei, forgive me for my insolence. But I could only beg that you would continue teaching me kyudō. I may be female, but I am also from a samurai family."

"You honor your family with such steadfast dedication, my little onna bugeisha. However, you better put down your bow, for now," his father advised as he stood up, taking her bow as he continued to speak, "My wife has need of your assistance; something about changing the flower arrangement for the tea house's tokonoma to fit the season."

"Komattana!" Kyoko's amber eyes widened in distress even as she pulled off the tasuki that was holding the sleeves of her keiko-gi in place, "I almost forgot about the chabana!"

"Daijobu, Kyoko-chan," his father merely grinned and waved away her concerns. "If you go now, you would have just enough time to freshen-up and change into something presentable."

"Arigato, Fuwa-sensei. I would be taking my leave then," she replied, bowing to both of them before making her way out of the dojo.

"Ah, if only she was born a man." The proud look in the older man's eyes made his own heart ache with envy. The ease with which she receives his parent's affection without even trying irked him to no end.

"It's a damn good thing that she's not," he declared peevishly. "Besides, how else am I supposed to wed her if that was the case?"

"Such uncouth words are most unbecoming of you, my son." Disappointment colored his father's voice, his tone cold and deliberate, "Your jealousy is an ugly thing."

"I ah-, I'm not..." Sho bit his lip, face red with impotent anger. He fumbled the words in his head, desperately trying to string a rebuttal, only to give up in the end. He hung his head, ashamed at having his father point out how pathetic he was for indulging such emotions.

"Shotaro, you must learn to aim without closing either of your eyes. You should not limit your own range of sight - to do so during battle would be most foolish; someone could be shooting at you whilst you were busy taking aim."

"And they would fail." He lifted his eyes and turned his turbulent gaze towards his father, "They would fail because she would be there, watching my back."

"Then you are obliged to watch hers in return." The man picked up the bow he dropped earlier and stood in front of him, "You do not have the luxury indulge in complacency. Instead, you should be working doubly hard to prove yourself." His father held out the bow, daring him to take it along with the challenge he just issued, "Am I finally making myself clear, Shotaro?"

"Hai, Chichi-ue."

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A/N:

Jhiz's challenge was just too tempting to pass up. After a month of sneaking in some writing while doing my day job, I finally managed to get a chapter out.

Rules of Jhiz's ninja challenge are as follows:

-AR/AU or normal world doesn't matter, you have to make them being ninjas work!

-stay true to the characters personalities and relationships as much as possible (with that I mean, don't go jumble everything upside down; ex Lory is still Ren's superior in some kind; Ren and Sho will never be friends, Maria is related to Lory, Yashiro is close to Ren not another arch enemy...)

-no leaving out any characters, (Kyoko, Ren, Sho, Lory, Maria, Yashiro, Kanae, Chiori, etc...each one of them has to have his fair share of the story) though you can add new ones, which means cross overs are also welcome.

-at some point in time Kyoko has to be jailed through law(reason unknown)

-the story has to count at least 5 chapters

This would be my first historical serial fanfic work, hence I'm really excited on how this would turn out. Feedback is much appreciated.

Note: Translation for the 64nd waka by Fun'ya no Yasuhide from the Hyakunin Isshu was based on the Japanese Text Initiative Electronic Text Center | University of Virginia Library